Power
by Cabba
Summary: The gang have moved into Grimmauld Place since it's one of the safest houses in the UK for now. And we know that nothing bad ever happens when a family moves into a large house that looks like it's straight out of a horror movie. Percy makes a new friend that damns them all. Harry just wants to heal and move on from what happened in Rome. Sequel to Summer. AU. Pumki series.
1. Foreshadow

**Disclaimer:I don't own anything related to the original works of the HP or PJO works by JKR and RR. Any similarity to forms of entertainment including books, movies, plays, television shows and music are not entirely coincidental.**

 **Have you guys checked out the poll? I'm getting a lot of answers!**

 **Listening to – Data Romance by Night Selection**

* * *

 _The hospital looked trashed. Percy did a double take when he realised that he was standing in one of the inner corridors of the St. Mungo's. Debris was scattered around him and the lights flickered menacingly._

 _He couldn't remember how he'd ended up here. What had he been doing before? Percy racked his brain, unable to come up with an explanation. His head hurt, his body ached under invisible pressure. The back of his neck felt cold and raw. He touched his throat. His camp necklace was gone._

 _Percy swallowed, searching his pockets for Riptide but that was gone too. His left arm was completely bare as well. No weapons, nothing to defend himself._

 _He couldn't remember anything happening to St. Mungo's. This could not be real. What was happening? The hospital looked desolated._

 _He heard sobbing from one of the doors to the side. Hesitating for a bit, he pushed against the door, ducking when light sputtered briefly from a torch. In the glow, he saw a pair, collapsed on the floor._

 _Rachel was on the ground, hugging someone with familiar messy black hair. She cried as she held him tightly to her. He wasn't moving. An arm was splayed out, lifeless as the rest of him._

 _Percy felt all air leave his body. He scrambled to lean against the doorway. It felt so real. It couldn't be. He had to be dreaming this!_

 _Rachel looked up from her mourner's position. Her eyes were red and swollen, green irises stark against the wetness of her face. Her hair was frantic and strewn across her face and shoulders._

" _You did this!" She screamed. Her grief hit him. Percy stumbled back into the corridor and the door closed. His feet crunched on the bits of wall and cement. He'd clapped a hand on his mouth to stop himself from screaming._

" _This isn't real. It's a nightmare. I'm asleep. It's just a nightmare." He said, over and over again to himself till that was all he could hear. Rachel's sobbing was drowned out and someone stepped out of the darkness._

 _There was a mirror to his left. Percy stared. It hadn't been there before. It was large and ornate, framed by an old, dull gold arch with strange letters engraved near the top. Dust covered the large entity. Cobwebs stretched over the frame, quivering like someone had deliberately disturbed it._

 _The mirror was broken. The shards were still connected but ugly cracks ran through the entire surface. Harry was standing on the other side, instead of Percy's reflection. He had a bloody hole punctured through his torso. The white shirt he wore was stained gruesomely. He should have been dead, but he simply stood in the mirror, watching Percy._

 _It's not real. Percy repeated, chest heaving like he couldn't breathe properly. "It's a nightmare."_

 _Harry tilted his head. There was an odd look in his eyes. His eyes, so very like his sister's, suddenly shone an ugly red. He smirked._

" _You of all people should know what nightmares really mean, Percy."_

* * *

Percy Jackson woke up with a jerk. His neck ached from the awkward angle it had been in. He sat up straight in his chair, looking around slowly.

St. Mungo's was alive and bustling with activity, a far cry from his nightmare. He shuddered for a moment, recalling the fear of having a strange Harry look down upon him with nothing but loathing and pure evil.

Pushing the dream out of his head, Percy rubbed his eyes.

It was Harry's last day at the hospital and the check-up took up hours especially since Sirius had insisted on evaluating every tiny portion of Harry's body and mentality. Percy could only imagine how that conversation had gone.

"Evening, Sleeping Beauty." Daniel 'DJ' Potter said.

"How much longer do we have to wait?" He let out a yawn, stretching his legs and rotating his ankles to get the feeling of pins and needles out. His skin felt warm despite the cool interior of the waiting ward.

DJ looked up at the large clock that adorned the wall above the receptionist's desk. "About an hour and a half."

"… what! How long was I asleep?"

"Twenty minutes, I guess."

Percy groaned. "I can't stay put."

"You exceeded my expectations though. Twenty whole minutes! A personal record for Percy Jackson!" DJ smirked and Percy shot him a look before getting up.

"Whatever. What do non-patients do at the hospital?"

"They wait."

"We've been waiting forever."

DJ's head thumped against the wall behind their seats, not bothering to continue with the conversation. Percy gave a sigh, wishing phones could work in a magical environment. His mother had bought him one and the first thing he'd done with it had been to call his girlfriend, Annabeth Chase. She'd left Camp a few days ago to visit her dad in San Francisco to see through her schooling options. He wished he could call her.

* * *

Harry Potter put on his sunglasses and stared into the mirror. His hair had grown long, brushing the nape of his neck entirely. At least it stuck out less. The usual messiness was subdued and he pulled down the fringe that covered his faint scar, adjusting it just the slightest bit.

He looked like a muggle celebrity who sucked at disguise.

He needed the tinted glasses, though it was late evening. His eyes were still sore and raw and the less light it received, the better. His ears felt extra sensitive. Every sharp sound was intensified to the point it was all blithering noise. Apparently, the ear drums had ruptured from the explosion. Harry turned his head to examine the sides. The skin on his face and neck was stretched, dry and pink from exposure. His hands were even worse, although they were smoother than a week ago. Hopefully, by the time September rolled around, he'd be completely healed.

At least, he wouldn't have too many scars.

"Harry?" Sirius Black's voice had been a constant during the week he'd been confined to the hospital room. Remus Lupin had been in and out frequently, Sally Jackson had been by once a day and Percy, DJ and Nico di Angelo had spent hours in his room trying to entertain him. His favourite moment was when Percy had tried skateboarding down the corridor and had been kicked out.

"Here." He ran a hand through his limp hair, sighed and exited the bathroom. Sirius was zipping up a bag in which he'd gotten Harry fresh clothes. After days of night robes and scrubs, he was glad to wear a loose t-shirt and jeans.

Sirius chuckled when he saw Harry. "Now that's a good disguise, right there."

"Don't start." Harry groaned. "You said there'd be reporters from the Daily Prophet waiting outside the building."

"I did. Luckily, the head healer has graciously allowed us to use her floo." Sirius patted him on the back.

They exited the room and walked down the special corridor, and took the elevator to the ground floor. The doors opened out to the waiting room where Percy sprang up from his seat. "Thank the gods! Finally!"

"Not just yet." Sirius warned. "We're going to make a short stop."

Harry frowned. "Won't we be late?"

"Late for what?" Percy asked.

Sirius immediately left them to go and confer with the receptionist about something. Percy looked at Harry and DJ curiously as they struggled with themselves.

"Uh... Sirius said that he wanted you to talk to Healer Mantis." DJ exclaimed, facing Harry. Before Percy could push his question, Harry had already blanched and said, "Mantis! I don't need to be psycho-analysed!"

"Late for what?" Percy asked again, waving a hand between Harry and DJ. They looked back at him startled.

"Nothing... I just wanted to reach home before supper." Harry said, blinking rapidly, thankfull for the shades. He knew it was not a convincing fib as Percy narrowed his eyes. But to his relief, DJ intervened.

"We're heading to New York, Harry. It's barely four over there."

"Good."

Percy was still watching them suspiciously. Harry looked away and sighed in resignation when he saw half the waiting room watching him. They were muttering excitedly.

"Can we go already?" Harry whispered. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and nearly groaned out loud when a nervous man with a disposition like Quirrell's came up to him.

"Mr. Potter?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Harry Potter, I'm so honoured –"

"Excuse me sir, but I have no idea who you're talking about." Harry said firmly, taking a seat beside Percy and grabbing a tabloid from the table in front of them. He practically heard DJ roll his eyes and explain to the man about not wanting to be disturbed. No one else bothered them till Sirius came back.

"I'm not speaking to Mantis." Harry said without invitation. Sirius stopped in his tracks to look at him. Then he shrugged.

"Fine."

"Really?" Harry sat up, surprised. He would have thought that Sirius would fight him on it but the man just gave him a wry smile and checked his watch.

"We can talk about it later. It's past nine, let's go."

Harry's bare relief gave way to a small amount of excitement. It wasn't because he'd be stepping out of the hospital for the first time in days, (though, that would be freedom) it was because of what everyone had planned for Percy.

They took the floo to Frost.

Harry did not fall out of the fireplace, so that was a win. Sirius directed them to the dining room where a broken lamp sat on the clean and shiny teak wood table. But beside the lamp was Hedwig, looking rather pompous as though silently enquiring why they'd taken so much time.

"I missed you." Harry told her, jogging up to the table. She gave him a soft hoot and nipped at his finger mindful of his injuries. He grinned. The ski on his face stretched uncomfortably.

"She's missed you too. But she won't be coming with us. Owls don't like portkeys." Sirius informed him. It was a let down. Harry hadn't realised how much he'd actually missed her until his stay at the hospital. She'd always been a presence even if it was only in background.

Hedwig hopped out of reach as they assembled around the lamp. "It's the thing we did for the Quidditch match, right?" Percy asked.

"Yes." Harry looked at him. "Didn't you use the portkey to come to Frost?"

"We came by floo." DJ said. He raised his eyebrows and mouthed, 'Wait' to Harry. The latter gave a subtle nod and shut up.

"Seriously, what's going on?" Percy whined. "You guys are acting like secret wizard ninjas or something."

"Oh, it's nothing... come on, I'm starving. Bye Hedwig." Harry nodded to her and she fluttered her wings in exchange.

They reached out their hands to touch a part of the lamp. Sirius looked at his watch again. "In a few seconds..."

The lamp gave off a blue glow as though it were switched on and they were sucked into what felt like a cyclone of air that rushed around them. The wind blew across Harry's face and he winced at the sharp noise that was everywhere.

Luckily, it was a short trip and they landed in the main bedroom of the Jackson apartment.

"Urgh." Harry said, shutting his eyes tight. "It's bright."

"Then you might want to be in the back." DJ warned. He pulled a confused Percy to the door and said. "Go on."

"I have no idea wha –" Percy had opened the door, talking to DJ when he was interrupted by what felt like a blast of streamers and a lot of noise.

"SURPRISE!" Half a dozen people yelled. Percy stood in front of DJ, stunned. Harry cringed again at the sudden flood of light from the decorated living room.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PERCY!"

"Oh my gods!" Percy laughed. The hall had been covered in glitter and ribbons, with a small banner hung above the doorway to the kitchen on which were the words, 'Happy Fifteen.' Percy walked in, a huge smile on his face, clearly not having remembered his birthday.

"I totally forgot!" He told Sally who gave him a kiss on his cheek. Tyson came barrelling through the tiny crowd and swept Percy off his feet yelling, "WHEEEE!"

"Harry, if it's too much for you..." Sirius said, having seen Harry grimacing.

"It's bright. And loud. Don't worry, I'll just wear the sunglasses."

"If it hurts, just have a lie in. I'm sure Percy will understand."

"It's fine, Sirius. I'm not missing this." Harry said firmly, walking into the room. Nico, Tonks, Sally, Tyson and Remus had done a neat job with the decorations. On top of the coffee table lay a homemade cake that would clearly not be enough for so many people. The blue icing on the cake made Harry want to at least taste it.

Percy blew out the candles and cut the cake. It was a good thing that the gathering was small. Harry didn't think he'd be able handle anymore noise explosions, especially while Percy, Tyson and Tonks tried to have a burping contest.

"No more root beer. I'm cutting you off." Sally said firmly after Tyson let out a roar of a burp that seemed to shaking the foundations, or may be just the couch.

"This was great. The cake's amazing, mom!" Percy said. She smiled, proud. The door bell rang and Sally left to answer it.

"So, it is homemade." Sirius said, cutting the last section into two smaller pieces.

"Yeah. She used to make cakes for Harry too, remember?"

"Yes. It's always better than the store bought." Harry nodded. "Though, it's small."

"We offered to increase the amount." Remus said. "Sally didn't want to. I guess she thought there was too much magic."

They looked around the room. "Right. So, I'm guessing this party is family only?" Percy looked at Tonks, teasingly. " 'Sup Tonks?"

Tonks grinned, she gave a sideways glance towards Harry who held back a sigh. Of course, protection detail for one Harry Potter.

Sally came into view, her face quite red. She looked nervous and before anyone could ask if something was wrong, a man appeared behind her, walking with fluid steps. The air around him seemed to pulse with a strange sort of energy and the room suddenly went quiet.

"Dad?" Percy said, standing up and looking shocked.

"Daddy!" Tyson exclaimed and got up as well, eager to give Poseidon a feet sweeping hug.

Harry leaned back, feeling his tongue stuck and unable to move. He'd seen gods before. Aphrodite and Dionysus were commanders in their respective fields of power, but Poseidon was entirely different. He didn't even have to seem or act like a leader, it was quite obvious. When Percy stood next to his father, their resemblance was extremely pronounced. Tyson and Poseidon had the same grin, which was accompanied by identical crinkling of the corners of their eyes.

"What are you doing here?" Percy asked, still looking confused.

"Why wouldn't I be here?" Poseidon said, his voice low and easy going like a lazy wave. "You've turned fifteen. In ancient Greece, it would have officially made you an adult!"

"I'm ten!" Tyson declared and then giggled. At least, someone looked happy to meet Poseidon.

Sirius finally moved from his frozen position. He set his piece of cake back down on the plate and folded his arms, sitting on the couch, resolutely.

"Oh!" Sally said, looking abashed. "Shall I introduce you?"

"Yes, please."

There was something very formal and traditional about Poseidon despite the Hawaiian shirt and summer shorts. He spoke with an old sense and slow grasp of new language. Sally seemed to know how exactly to communicate with him as she said the names and showed him who the guests were to the party.

"This is Daniel Potter, we call him DJ." Sally's tone made DJ blush. "Next to him is Sirius Black and then... that's Harry."

Her voice suddenly went devoid of giddiness. It was like she'd recalled something. Harry watched her strangely and then at Poseidon, noticing that his smile had dimmed by a fraction.

"It's refreshing to meet you." Poseidon said, inclining his head in a small bow. Then he looked at Percy purposefully.

"Would you like some cake?" Sally asked. She still looked like she had fever, but had managed to talk. Poseidon beamed at her and Harry was worried that she would faint. She looked close to doing so.

"That would be great, Sally. I'd like to talk to Percy first, if you don't mind."

"Of course! Sure! Yeah, go right ahead!"

"We can talk over here." Percy said. He hadn't smiled since his father's appearance. They went into the room that Percy shared with Nico.

The moment they were out of sight, everyone relaxed. The pressure of having to automatically behave in front of an immortal had lessened and Harry rubbed his eyes like they'd been exposed to bright light.

"Well..." Tonks muttered. "Call me a nutter but I believe that was the Greek god of the seas." She turned to looked at Nico. "I'm kind of glad it isn't your birthday, no offense."

"Tonks." Sirius said, shaking his head.

"It's okay." Nico answered, backing her. "Even if it was my party, my dad wouldn't show up anyway."

Sally quietly picked up a suitable piece of cake for the god and went into the kitchen to pack it. Harry immediately got off the couch as Tyson sat down and grabbed for the last piece.

He followed her into the kitchen. She had her back to him, looking disconnected from what she was doing. Harry remembered his dream at Camp. He'd spoke to Luke Castellan who'd told him that he'd met Poseidon before.

"Are you alright?" He asked in a low voice. There was no doubt that the god would be able to hear them if he wanted to. But Harry couldn't help himself.

Sally nodded, her head jerking up and down while her hands moved mechanically to unroll a pack of aluminium foil. Harry bit the inside of his cheek, his unasked question burning his throat. He needed to know. He had to confirm that Luke had been lying to him, because there was no way _Sally_ would have lied to him.

"Mum?"

The word made her snap out of her reverie. She looked at him in surprise, raising an eyebrow.

"You know..." She started slowly, "I'm not sure I deserve a title like that."

Harry latched on to it. "Why not?"

She hesitated, trying to think of a way to frame it. Harry watched her till she stopped packing the cake. "You've actually seen Poseidon before. You won't remember but it was years ago –"

Harry listened to the short story with mounting sadness. Poseidon had appeared to her, found their house when they still lived in Privet Drive. In fact, it was Percy's eighth birthday, exactly seven years ago. Apparently, something about Harry and the magical blood protection had seemingly enveloped the Jackson household as well, temporarily till it had started to fade. Sally told him of how a cyclops had found them, specifically Percy, at school, and how there would be more monsters on the way with Percy growing up, becoming stronger and also with Harry's presence. The mist didn't always work with witches and wizards.

"I wanted to keep you both safe." Sally continued, making sure to not raise her voice. "I would have done anything, believe me, Harry. But the dreams had shaken me and then Poseidon's warning had been the last straw. I thought you were a demigod too, so I gave you the aid kit."

"The aid kit?" Harry repeated, leaning against the counter. "You mean the box with all those photos, the cash and... and..."

Harry froze. He tried to think back. Pictures, money and what? There had been three items. He couldn't recall what she'd given him...

He couldn't remember.

Harry's breathing turned harsh. He stared at the ground, not really seeing it. He tried to recollect the scene. He was eight. It was ... it was a special day. People had been celebrating something, but he couldn't remember...

"Harry?" Sally's voice was distant as though it was echoing down a tunnel. Harry shut his eyes, pressed her hands to the sides of his head and groaned. He couldn't remember.

"Harry!"

There were other voices joining the mix. Sirius' was the closest. Hands gripping his arms, someone caught him as he swayed. They lowered him to the ground. He could hear them talking but the noises were a mangled mess.

"I can't remember..." He tried to gasp, tried to tell them, because he was supposed to remember everything. He was supposed to be able to recall every tiny detail that he'd been through, that had happened to him, all his experiences ever since he was five and that thing had happened on ... Halloween...

What had happened?

He couldn't remember.

* * *

 **How's that for a beginning, eh? Stay tuned for the next chapter.**

 **Q: What did Annabeth tell Percy after he saved her, Piper and Hazel from Octavian and his minions in the Mark of Athena?**

 **Cabba.**


	2. Safe House

**Disclaimer in chapter 1.**

 **A: Annabeth said (giggle) 'I love you!'**

 **Listening to – Burn It Down by Linkin Park**

* * *

Nico gave long, lazy yawn. It was a hot day, so they were sweating, just standing underneath the morning sun in Gretna Green. The three boys were outside the mansion of Frost, standing in the grounds that the territory covered.

And they were standing because Percy and DJ were arguing on what game to play. DJ was standing in front of Nico facing Percy who stood yards away so they had to shout at each other. Though DJ was holding a baseball bat, he was yelling, "You don't _pitch_ in cricket! You _bowl_!"

"What is that in your hand?!" Percy demanded. "Is that a cricket bat, DJ? No, it's a baseball bat!"

"It's not like you're holding a baseball in yours!"

"Give me a break! I have no idea why we had a tennis ball but it was there and instead of standing around and getting roasted, let's actually play!"

DJ shook his head. "I don't know how to play baseball."

"Just swing it, you'll be fine. Nico, ready?"

"I've been ready for half an hour!"

Percy grinned and Nico's irritation melted away under the burning sun. He smiled back and squatted, as he played the catcher. He pounded into his mitt.

"Just swing." DJ nodded and held the bat in the way Percy had shown him. Percy leaned carefully, raising his hand, and then delivered a fast one. The ball raced towards DJ who swung and missed. Nico caught it and said, "Strike one!"

"I get two more chances, don't I?" DJ asked urgently.

"Yeah, don't worry. You can try till you hit. It's not a game or anything." Nico assured him as he threw the ball back to Percy.

DJ got into position and Percy did too. Nico saw him smile briefly before delivering another pitch, this time putting a little spin on the throw.

Nico wished Percy'd gone a little easy on DJ but he needn't have worried. DJ swung and the bat connected with the ball in a terrific blow. Unfortunately, the ball flew high and out of sight right over the large house, disappearing from view as it fell on the other side.

"Six!" DJ cried.

"It's a home run! DJ, run to all the bases!"

"I can leave the bat here?"

Nico laughed. This was fun. "Yeah. And you have to finish before Percy gets the ball."

DJ turned around to see Percy already running out of sight. "Hell! I'm on it!"

He threw the bat to the side and ran to cover the marked spots designated as the bases. He crossed Percy's spot and was three-fourth ways home when Percy had already emerged from the side of the house.

"Faster!" Nico yelled, bouncing on the spot. DJ raced but Percy threw the ball and Nico stood up to catch it.

"Out!" Percy crowed, pointing at him. He ran towards them and gave Nico a hi-five.

"That was a good throw." DJ said in surprise, panting from his effort.

"I used to play baseball in fourth and fifth grade." Percy said, like it was nothing.

"Yeah, but I thought you had terrible aim."

Percy narrowed his eyes. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Nico hid a smile.

DJ shrugged, "I heard that your archery skills are the worst that _the_ Chiron had ever witnessed. I mean, _Chiron_! The mentor legend who's been around for three thousand years and yet you're the bloke that ranks spectacularly vivid in his mind? Well, that's understandable because you did once aim an arrow in his tail."

"I didn't _aim_ it!"

"Exactly."

Nico sniggered. Percy turned to him, defensively, "Tattler!"

"Hey, don't look at me."

"It was Rachel." DJ said, grinning at Nico from behind Percy's back.

"And who told Rachel?!"

"Who do you think would tell Rachel?" Nico prompted.

Percy stared till it clicked. "Harry. He yammered it to everyone, didn't he? Do you know how his archery skills are?"

"It's not as bad as yours. At least, his arrows fly in the right direction." Nico guffawed.

"I'll have you know that I once killed someone who had three torsos with one arrow." Percy said delicately.

"Wasn't a goddess helping you or something?" DJ asked.

"Not the point."

Nico squinted, holding up a palm to shield his face against the heat. "Okay, I think Thalia's driving the sun chariot today. I'm _burning_."

"You can drive the sun?" DJ's expression was ridiculous. Percy grinned, slapping an arm around his shoulders. "Dude, haven't you heard this one? It's great. Apollo let Thalia drive the sun after we found Nico and Bianca. We nearly scorched England!"

"New England, Percy." Nico reminded him hastily.

They headed back to the house, feeling steam rise from their bodies. Nico wiped the sweat off his face and jumped when a voice rang out from the hall.

"I saw that! All of you, upstairs, now."

"Mom…" Percy tried but Sally was having none of it. "We're leaving after lunch. So, take a shower and finish the packing."

Nico followed her instructions, looking forward to cool water when they ran into Harry who was coming down the stairs. He looked tired, but far better than last night when he'd nearly collapsed just before Poseidon had left.

"Please tell me lunch's ready. I'm hungry." Harry said.

"It probably is. Either way, there'll be something to eat." DJ consoled him. "Did you finish packing?"

"Hmm? Oh yeah. Yes. You guys stink." Harry made a show of wrinkling his nose theatrically. Percy gave him an evil grin. He spread out his arms and said, "Come on, Potter. Give me a kiss."

"Lay off Jackson, you have a girlfriend."

"And she doesn't have to know about this."

Nico stared as the two ran down the stairs, chasing till they reached the kitchen from which Sally promptly kicked Percy out. It was settling down. The atmosphere, the mood… everything that had happened at Camp and then Rome, seemed to be healing and Nico was glad that everyone had come out of it better than he'd dared to hope.

He still had nightmares, though. But every demigod had those. They had nightmares of monsters killing them, of gods killing them, of friends killing them. Basically, there was a lot of murdering of people and sanity.

Nico's only salvation was to wake up and remind himself that he wasn't alone. He was surrounded by people with whom he lived and with whom he would now move into a safe house in London like a family seeking refuge during a war. It was the family part that got to him the most. He liked hanging out with Percy, Harry and DJ. They were hilarious and amazing to spend time with. Sally was the woman that he could actually call his aunt and the thought scared and fascinated him. Sirius and Remus were like the fun uncles that helped keep the house intact and the hearth going.

After a quick refreshing shower (who knew UK could get hot?) he went down to the kitchen. Nico took a seat next to Remus who must have just arrived. The man had been meeting up with a few witches and wizards who were part of the Order of the Phoenix.

"Hi. Long day?" Nico asked him. Remus grinned and said, "Yes, but we've had abundant good news which makes up for it."

"Good news? You didn't say a word of it?" Harry accused as he too sat down with Sally. Nico looked at the simple lunch that was in front of him. It looked like an explosion of cold cuts spread over the table.

"I'm waiting for the others. Sirius isn't back yet."

"Is he still at the Ministry?" Sally asked, placing the triangle cut sandwiches on Nico's plate. In the Jackson household, it was expected for one to eat the crusts as well. Luckily, the ham and cheese helped.

"Yes. It's been a field day. We've been able to keep everything out of the press, thankfully." Remus and Sally shared a somber look. Nico watched them, feeling cold all of the sudden. They looked like they were hiding something. He didn't want to ask because he wanted to know the good news.

"So…" Nico cleared his throat. "Nobody knows anything about Ro –"

"Italy?" Harry said, startling him. "Nope. Just the Minister, a few of his underlings, the Order and Camp."

"Percy didn't tell them." Nico said, feeling the need to defend him. Harry looked stressed. His palms were in fists and he glared at his sandwich.

There was a loud ruckus from above. Percy and DJ had been getting into several arguments over the past week. Most of them were juvenile teasing, but sometimes, they really started yelling.

"Those boys…" Sally muttered, eyeing the ceiling, unhappily.

They came rushing down, smelling of soap. Water dripped from DJ's hair. He pointed a finger at Percy, "He flushed when I was in the shower!"

"It's a hot day, DJ." Percy sniggered, ducking when the wizard tried to hit him.

"Alright, settle down!" Remus called them. "The sooner we eat, the sooner we leave. Sirius will be here any second and we have big news."

"Good news." Harry added.

Percy and DJ stared, "You have _good news_!"

"It's the solemn truth." Nico nodded.

Sally rolled her eyes. "I think we're entitled to good news once in a while. Now sit and eat. I thought you'd be hungry after running round in the sun."

Nico watched in amusement as they fought over the chairs for a few seconds before sitting on either side of the last unoccupied chair, reserved for Sirius. Just as Nico sat back, there was a 'whoosh!' and the hallway glowed green for a second.

"It'd better be really awesomesauce news." Percy muttered, chewing on his spinach and cheese sandwich. They waited for Sirius to dust off the soot, stumble at the edge of his robes, swear in a low voice, loud enough for them to hear, and then appear in the doorway, a wide smile greeting them.

"I have excellent news!" He crowed.

Nico could feel the disbelief in the room. Sally and Remus seemed to be in on it and they were staring at the teenagers in anticipation.

"Whoa." Percy said, wide eyed. "Good news has been bumped up to excellent? Is this an alternate universe?"

"May be it is." DJ said thoughtfully. "You did use soap."

Harry snorted, clapping a hand over his mouth to avoid spewing soggy bread over the plate. Nico chuckled and turned around the face Sirius. "Should we guess?"

"Oh Merlin, no. You'll never figure it out!" Sirius hopped up to the table, kissed Sally on the cheek and then Remus. He ruffled Harry's hair, offered Nico a hi-five and sat in his chair, bringing Percy and DJ into a hug. They nearly toppled off their chairs.

"Did you win the lottery?" Nico asked, trying not to laugh at the display.

"Voldemort is dead?" Harry suggested. Sirius shot him a look but, sadly, shook his head.

"You figured out who the kidnappers were?" DJ inquired.

"We're not moving into the safe house?" Percy leaned forward, a hopefully tone in his voice.

"I wish!" Sirius muttered. "Nope. It's something very unexpected, very brilliant and very hush hush."

"An Order secret? You're going to let us be a part of –" Harry began, but Sirius clapped his back.

"Not the Order, technically. But it will be a secret. You'll have to promise not to tell anyone. I'm sorry Percy, Nico. But that includes Camp too." He informed.

"What's so important?" Percy asked curiously, finally setting his sandwich down. They'd all stopped eating. Nico saw Remus, unable to hide his smile. Even Sally looked happy.

Sirius placed his hands on the table and leaned forwards. His eyes gleamed like they never had before. "Do you know the Longbottoms?"

There was a gap of silence. Then Nico said, "Is that a 70s outfit?"

Sally choked on her giggle. "Nico! That's bell bottoms!"

"Are you talking about Neville…?" Percy looked towards Harry who didn't say anything but stared at Sirius with an unreadable expression.

"Neville Longbottom is in the same year as Harry." DJ explained to Nico. Then he turned to Sirius. "Did _he_ win the lottery?"

"If he did, why would Sirius be thrilled?" Harry finally said, sounding exasperated.

"Oh, I'm a little more than thrilled. I'm ecstatic!"

"What's with the cliffhanger! Tell us!" DJ poked him.

Sirius's smile faltered during his answer. "Neville's parents are our friends. Frank and Alice are the best kind of people you'd ever meet… they were attacked right after the first war when Voldemort was first defeated."

"They were driven insane." Remus told Nico. He stared, trying to contemplate the information.

"They've been in St. Mungo's long term ward for nearly fourteen years." Sirius continued. They he looked happier. "And they woke up!"

"Huh?"

"They… it's like they snapped out of it, just like that! They're healthier too!"

Nico watched the excitement at the table. Fourteen years of insanity, then a sudden cure?

"How?" Percy asked.

"We don't know." Sirius shrugged. He looked at Sally for a brief second before grinning again. "But they're completely healed!"

"Wow!" DJ said. "When did this happen?"

"I spoke to Augusta. Neville's grandmother, she said that they got a letter about three weeks ago, from a nurse at the hospital. She hadn't told anyone else, except for the Healer in charge."

"Three weeks." Harry mumbled.

"Yeah." Sirius leaned back against the chair in contentment. "They're at Neville's house now. Catching up on the past decade and a half. But they'll be coming to the Grimmauld Place too."

Remus looked up in surprise. "But the Fidelius charm – "

"I know. It'll be a lot of people, but we have the best secret keeper this time."

Sirius didn't explain that but Nico knew it had something to do with the special protection around the safe house in London.

"So…" Harry surmised. "The seven of us plus Tonks, plus six Weasleys, plus Hermione, plus four Longbottoms –"

"Three. Augusta isn't on the list." Sirius said, finally starting his lunch.

"Eighteen people under one roof." DJ said. "Is the house big enough?"

Sirius rolled his eyes. "When we get there, you'll be wishing it wasn't. We have to clear the cobwebs."

"I don't have to." Harry said immediately.

Percy groaned. "Great. More cleaning."

"We'll share, two to a room. It should be comfy." Remus assured them.

* * *

Nico had his backpack ready. It was the same bag that Sally had bought him for Camp. It was one of the first things she'd ever bought him. It was even more special with the Mythomagic Card logo on the front. He'd remembered to pack the cards along with his socks. With the Extension charm, he could fit all of his stuff into it. It didn't even weigh too much.

Sirius had bought Percy, Harry and DJ similar bags after seeing how much it came into use for Nico. They were waiting by the table for Tonks who would bring the portkey with her. The safe house had a fire place but it wasn't connected yet to anywhere else. They'd have to literally walk up to the house and enter using the door.

After weeks of living and traveling with magic, the muggle and mortal felt boring and tiring.

The hearth was suddenly filled with large green flames and the pink haired witch stumbled out and near fell. She always did that. Even Harry was getting used to the floo, but Tonks always tripped.

"Wotcher, fellows." She greeted them. Nico stared at her new ear piercings. They looked so cool on her.

"Hello, Tonks. Do you have the portkey or did you drop it?" Remus asked, sounding innocent enough but Tonks glared at him.

"You don't have to come along, you know." She answered, pulling out a limp towel that had seen better days.

"That looks infected." DJ said in worry.

"It isn't. Come on, I'm doing the countdown." Tonks said. Everyone extended their hands and Nico pinched the edge of the cloth. It didn't feel dirty, just unused.

"Ten seconds."

It was crowded but they were able to manage it. Nico had been afraid of losing his grip on the portkey, the first time he'd taken it. Of course, it was part of the magic that was supposed to keep them connected till it reached its destination. One whirlwind ride later, most of them found themselves on the ground. There had been a cushioning charm, which was great because hitting the tar at the speed they were falling would definitely have broken something.

"Is there someone waiting for us?" Sirius asked as he helped Harry up. Nico looked around. They were standing in a desolate looking alley, devoid of anyone else. The sounds of the busy city of London were strangely absent.

"No. We already did the area boundary spell." Tonks brushed away the dirt with a wave of her wand. She stepped forwards, looking around them and then said, "Follow me."

It felt silly for eight people to simply march down a suburban lot where several grey and old apartment buildings stood in a row. Nico felt a little out of place, but he noticed that no one was really watching them. It was like they were invisible to the muggles.

"Here we go." Tonks said, stopping at no particular point. She stood right in the middle of the pavement, facing two buildings. Neither of them looked magical.

While she dug around in her pockets, she said, "Okay guys, stand in a line, face the fence."

"Which house is it?" Percy asked looking from left to right.

"You won't be able to see it now. Not until you read the address." Sirius whispered, low enough for them to hear.

"Read the… you didn't say anything about that!"

"It's short. You'll be fine."

They assembled in a single line. Nico was near the centre between Percy and Harry. Tonks handed a piece of paper to Sirius and walked across to join Remus at the other end.

Nico felt nervous. Was it some kind of test? Sirius had explained that they had to do something to be allowed inside the house, but he hadn't explained beyond that. Sirius passed the paper to Sally who read it silently.

In a minute, it reached Nico's hands. He smoothed out the paper and tried to relax his eyes. The ink was sharp and the handwriting was stylish. The words were written in cursive flourish and Nico finally separated the words and numbers.

 _The Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix may be found at number twelve, Grimmauld Place, London._

The moment he committed it to memory and passed the paper to Harry, the row of houses shook. It looked like an earthquake but he couldn't feel anything. The pavement was steady and Nico just stared as the houses started to get pushed away and a large black wall sprouted from in between, expanding till windows popped out on all four floors. The small front yard too sprung up as the wall between the previous two houses split into two. Nico could see people in the windows of the houses that were moving. None of them seemed bothered or shocked.

He looked to Harry who'd just passed along the paper to DJ and saw that he could see it too. Sally started to giggle.

"So cool." Nico said. He looked towards Percy who was staring straight ahead, looking confused.

"What?" He whispered. Percy blinked at him. "Nothing… what are we waiting for?"

"For everyone to finish reading." Harry said pointedly.

Nico looked ahead and watched till the front door emerged from within, a block of dull grey wood and the new apartment was born. The moving stopped. Tonks ripped up the piece of paper and stuffed in her pocket. She said, "Go on."

"It won't close in on us, right?" Nico asked suddenly. "Like, when we're inside… and it suddenly collapses…"

"No." Sirius grinned at him. "We've done a preliminary check of the house. It's pretty safe. We'll explain, come on now."

They opened the gate and Nico felt, or maybe he thought he felt, a small shiver over his shoulder as he walked through. It was probably the shield or ward or whatever the spell was.

The door looked small and unwelcoming. But Sirius opened it and they walked in. The interior of the house was even more depressing. The door had opened into a cold, dimly lit hallway.

"Home sweet home." Sirius muttered. "Remember, no talking or loud noises."

Apparently, Sirius' mother's portrait was hanging on the wall at the end of the corridor. She was asleep and they had been strictly advised to not wake her up. They tip toed through the passage and stepped through the archway on the left where there was another door. Sirius silently opened it and once they were in the hall, Nico let out a breath.

"Okay!" Sirius said loudly. "This is our house for the next two weeks. Any questions?"

Nico blinked, staring at the room. There was no dust, but it was very clear that no one had inhabited the place for a long time. The large living room had a dull atmosphere that seemed to define its very core. The colour scheme of the couch, rug and curtains were somewhere on the grey scale. Though the windows were open, the sunlight didn't seem to offer enough warmth. The book shelf on the opposite wall looked interesting but also out of bounds. He could see two more doors, both of which were open. One of them led to the kitchen and the other lead to more rooms and a staircase. Looking around, Nico felt that the place looked larger on the inside.

Percy coughed. Everyone looked at him.

"Erm…it's gonna sound weird… but does this scenario feel familiar to you?"

"Like Déjà vu?" DJ asked.

"No… not like –"

"Yes." Harry said plainly. "I know what you mean."

Nico looked at Percy till he saw the questioning stare and answered, "You know? The story of a family that moves into a new old creepy mansion and it turns out to be haunted and stuff?"

Sirius chuckled. "Don't worry, Percy. The only thing that can haunt us is my mother. And I'll figure out a way to get rid of her."

"And the boggart." Tonks said.

"Oh right." Sirius looked at them, seriously. "Don't go into the loft."

"That's how it is." Sally added. "It all starts in the attic."

They took the stairs to the first floor where Sirius stood and said, "Okay, we've got lots of rooms, but like Remus said, you're going to have to share. Four bedrooms on each floor, you guys are allowed to go up till the third. The floor above that is the loft."

"It's locked, so don't bother trying to open it." Remus added, looking at Harry immediately.

They chuckled. Percy raised a hand, "We can choose our rooms."

"Yes, Percy. It's not a boarding house assignment." Sirius deadpanned.

"I choose third floor!" DJ announced.

"What a surprise." Harry muttered. Tonks chuckled.

"Go on." Sally said. She turned around to look at the rooms on the first floor. "Tonks, which one would you like?"

As the adults started to discuss, Nico ascended the stairs again. Percy, Harry and DJ followed him. Each floor was well lit by the open windows, but the décor of the place was too gloomy to enjoy it. There were a lot of long shadows cast across the floor and while shadows were a comfort to Nico, they were also cold. He hoped that it wouldn't be too cold during the night. He preferred to sleep warm.

"Right." DJ said as they stood on the landing of the third floor. The corridor they faced was narrow and there were four doors, two on either side. "Two to a room. Who's bunking with me?"

"Not me." Percy said casually. But DJ swiveled around and folded his arms. "And why not?"

"Oh, nothing really. But you might make me clean my sock drawer every half an hour!"

Nico sighed. Then he jumped when he felt a finger tap on his shoulder. Percy and DJ were arguing again and Harry had a wicked glint in his eyes.

"What do you think of this one?" He whispered, pushing open the door on the left. Nico peered in. The room was moderately sized, by no means as large as his single room in Frost, but bigger than Percy's room in Manhattan. There were two cots already placed on either sides of a large windows from which the curtains were missing. Unlike the rest of the house, it looked far more welcoming and Nico felt relieved.

"It's nice." He said and they walked in, ignoring the dueling pair behind them. The argument had gone from sock drawers to cleaning fluids.

"I hope they'll get new drapes." Harry said, dropping his bag on one of the beds. Nico jumped on the second, bouncing lightly on the mattress.

"Sure they will. Did you see how old some of the stuff is in the house? They're like, ancient!"

Harry smiled at Nico's excitement. "I'll tell you, I won't be looking forwards to actually cleaning the house. Did you see the elf heads in the first corridor?"

"The what!" Nico's outburst succeeded in pulling Percy and DJ into the room.

"What are you guys doing here?" DJ asked suspiciously.

Harry and Nico looked at each other, trying hiding their smiles but failed.

"No! You guys! I can't share with him!" Percy whined.

"Looks like you're gonna have to." Harry said easily. "It'll give you time to make peace before the Weasleys reach here. Full house ain't gonna be pretty."

"Um… no." DJ said resolutely. He had turned around and stormed away, still yelling, "I'm not bunking with you!"

"Well, no one wants to bunk with you either, so ha!" Percy called back.

"Well played." Harry told him.

"Oh, shut up. And stop enjoying this so much."

* * *

Sally and Tonks had taken up their room, the one with two windows. It was bright and airy, almost hot as the strong sunlight shone in through the glass. Tonks stubbed her toe against the nightstand and was hopping about the room.

"I'm fine." She panted, holding her foot tightly. Sally watched as she took out her wand and waved it, mumbling in Latin.

"Wow." Sally said. "If you can heal stubbed toes, then I'll accept the greatness of magic."

Tonks laughed. "It's a numbing charm. I don't want to experience all of my nerve cells in my toe."

She smiled. She was getting used to magic. She was getting used to the fact that her boyfriend was a wizard and his best friend and two wards were wizards and she was rooming with a witch. She had a son and a nephew who were demigods. No big deal.

Sally pulled up her hair into a swift braid and walked across the hallway into Sirius and Remus' room. It was smaller but cozier in the way that there were actual possessions beside the two beds. The closet was open and was filled with clothes and there were new, bright red curtains to light up the whole space. The wall beside the door was covered with several posters of people on brooms, flying in strange motions. The biggest attention seeking bit of the room was the large picture of bikini clad women, frozen like a regular photo.

"Hey." Sirius said, pulling out a toothbrush from his bag. "Remus's gone down to make tea. We're going to need it."

Sally folded her arms, smirking at him. "Nice decorations."

"Hmm? Thanks. We'll be getting curtains for all the rooms… oh." He looked up and saw that she was gesturing at the women.

"Yeah…" Sirius pressed his lips together. "That was sixteen year old me's attempt at annoying his parents."

"Really?"

"Yes. It has a permanent sticking charm so they couldn't remove it."

"I see. And it has nothing to do with the aesthetic value of the female body?" Sally asked innocently.

"Aesthetic… why no, of course not! Sally Jackson, what kind of lecher do you take me for?"

Sally burst out laughing. "My mistake, Sirius Black. Of course, everyone knows you to be the mild mannered, virtuous man that you truly are. But honey – " Her eyes widened in a suggestive look "You're missing out."

Sirius gaped at her for a second before letting out a bark like laugh. He leaned over to her and pulled her into a quick kiss.

"Harry and Nico are being unreasonable!" DJ's voice was close so they parted. He stormed into the room not a second later. "They're sharing a room which means I'll have to be with Percy!"

He stopped in his tracks as he surveyed the poster of the women.

"Can I have this room?"

"I thought you wanted the third floor?" Sally said, amused.

"Well…" DJ shrugged. "I'll manage over here."

"That's very gallant of you, DJ." Sirius said. He sounded tickled at the situation. "But I think it'll be to everyone's best interest that you and Percy share a room."

DJ looked so taken aback that he was silent. Tonks appeared over his head, shoulders shaking from the strain of not laughing out loud. She left quickly not to startle him.

"But – "

"You've been arguing all summer." Sirius finally said. "If it wasn't about magic, it was about gods and camp. I know you think it's all shifty business –"

"I don't think that." He mumbled, not looking at them.

"But I've seen you and Percy get along. It's only for two weeks, DJ. Make the most of it." Sirius patted his shoulder.

DJ looked to be at war with himself. "…Fine!"

He marched back up the stairs, a move that Sally had not anticipated. She knew that he and Percy hadn't been very forthcoming about each other. DJ had no problems with Nico, apparently but would waste no time, bringing up strange topics to annoy Percy. Sirius looked surprised as well.

"You know, I would've thought he'd have a list of arguments against that decision."

Sally shrugged. "Maybe he's tired of fighting too. Gods know, I am."

He gave her a quirky little grin, pecked her cheek and held her hand, walking her out of the room. "I know it's moving day, but we need to talk about Rome."

Sally stiffened. She pulled her hand away from him. "I don't want t – "

"I don't want to remember that either!" He hissed. They had stopped halfway down the stairs. "But besides the three of us and Healer Calles and the nurse, Ava, no one else knows. I haven't told Tonks or any of the Order or Dumbledore. We have to talk about this if we need to understand what really happened!"

Sally shut her eyes. She had been in the Embassy when they'd informed her that Harry had been caught in a blast. Sirius and Remus had gone with the Order and the Aurors. They had caught a few people but the building had exploded and the closest survivor had been Harry.

Or rather, the closest casualty had been him, because, he hadn't actually survived the bomb.

Remus had found him first. Skin burnt, bones visible, limbs broken and without a pulse, half buried under the rubble.

It had taken them up to fifty minutes to remove the walls, without upsetting the mountain of flaming debris, to get Harry out without damaging him anymore. Just as they pulled him from the wreckage, Remus froze. Harry's heart had started to beat again. And he was the only one who'd realized what had happened. Harry had been dead for nearly an hour and, without any kind of help, survived.

It was the third task all over again.

"I've been thinking of telling him." Sirius' voice snapped her out of it. She stared.

"Who? Dumbledore?"

"No, Harry!"

Sally blanched. "What… how the hell are you going to explain this?!"

There was a moment when Sirius looked like he wanted to yell. Then he calmed down and said, "I don't know… I have no idea… what the bloody hell I'm supposed to do."

Sally squeezed his hand. He looked at her helplessly. She wanted to tell him that she understood how he felt, but did she? Yes, she loved Harry too, but it felt like she'd kept too much from him, especially concerning Poseidon and the bracelet…

"Let's have tea." She whispered. "You and Remus can discuss –"

"What do you think?" He asked her.

She hesitated. "Do you think it's okay for me to be… involved in this? I mean… he's your –"

"Responsibility?" Sirius laughed sadly. "Harry's a little more than that, Sally. And you care about him just as much as I do. I won't deny that. I need help on this." His voice broke a little. "Please. This is …beyond me. It's more than regular wizardry or witchcraft. No spell brings people back from the dead."

His voice had dropped to a whisper. They could hear the sound of robust laughter from upstairs. Sally could easily imagine the boys teasing and jesting with each other. She shuddered thinking of how close they had been to losing Harry again.

"Come on." She pulled him down the stairs. Remus and Tonks were in the kitchen and she could smell the soft scent of tea leaves being boiled. Sirius and she stood near the archway of the hall, right below the elf heads. Had it been any other conversation, she would have been vocally distressed about it, but she ploughed on.

"It's not going to be easy, trying to find the truth about what happened, but remember that for now he's here. He's with us and he's getting better every day."

Sirius inhaled carefully. He held her gaze, trying to search for any sham, she assumed.

"I can't let him down, again." He told her, barely audible. "Twelve years were wasted and I'm not the only one who had to pay for that."

"Oh gods. Sirius, you will always worry about your kids. That's natural." She tried to make him smile, but he looked dead serious and she sighed. "We'll figure it out. One day, you'll understand and so will Harry."

He tugged her into a hug. She clutched on to him, feeling guilty for assuming that he'd take it well. It wasn't easy to think about the pain someone had been through especially if that someone was your ward. She hated feeling powerless about the situation.

"Tea's ready." Tonks chirped, bouncing out of the kitchen, nearly tripping over the rug. Sally and Sirius took a step back. Tonks frowned. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing!" Sally exclaimed while Sirius cleared his throat. "I was… complaining about this! It's atrocious!"

She pointed up at the plaque where five shriveled up house elf heads were mounted. Sally shivered, looking up at them.

"You can thank my dear Aunt Elladora for that." Sirius said. There was joyful buoyancy in his voice that sounded very authentic. "She started the tradition of chopping off elf heads after they could no longer serve carry platters."

"Charming." Tonks wrinkled her nose.

Sally cringed as well. "Can't you take it down? I don't want the boys having to look at it every day. And we'll be having more kids in the house after tomorrow."

"We tried." Remus said without interest. "But like almost everything in the house, it has a Permanent Sticking charm on it."

Sally must have looked extremely disappointed because Sirius, Tonks and Remus tried to discuss options on how to get rid of it. After a few ridiculous ideas, Tonks finally suggested to put a glamour over it to hide it from sight.

While Remus did the spell, Sirius idly said, "Oh, and before I forget, the house has an elf. His name is Kreacher and if you get annoyed with him, don't hesitate to drop kick him from a height."

* * *

 **I know you'll have a lot of questions, but enjoy the mystery while it lasts. Stay tuned, guys!**

 **Q: How many inhabitants did Grimmauld Place house till the Order moved in?**

 **Cabba.**


	3. Disturbance

**A: Before the Order (including Sirius and Buckbeak) moved into Grimmauld Place, Kreacher lived in the house. Congrats _Child of Dreams_.**

 **Listening to – Please Mr. Postman by The Carpenters**

* * *

That day, Sally had played the complete list of songs by The Carpenters. With the airy music as the background, the eight of them had made most of the house usable. The old curtains in the living room had strange creatures lurking within the folds which they would have to tackle after the Weasleys reached, thank gods. There was a writing desk that Sirius and Remus had shifted into the attic because it held something called a boggart. The cold front corridor was cautioned off to avoid waking up the portraits and the plaque containing the severed house elf heads had seemingly disappeared.

They spent a few hours clearing up the rest of the bedrooms for the others. There were a lot. The beds and tables had to be dusted and new curtains had to be fitted. Sirius had gotten bright colourful drapes that lit up the place immediately and the house suddenly felt warmer. Percy looked around his new and temporary room. He and DJ were sharing. They'd pushed their beds as far away from each other as possible and had hung blue and red curtains over the two windows in their designated halves respectively.

Percy had just finished tucking away his clothes in his dresser. He turned around and snorted. DJ had somehow gotten duct tape and was laying a long strip of it in the middle of the floor, dividing the room.

"Really?" Percy asked, throwing his arms on his hips. He waited for DJ to finish. The tape was silver on the brown wooden floorboards, very distinguishable and Percy had an idea what it was. But he was pretty sure that it was pushing it.

"There!" DJ said, getting up and tossing up the roll of duct tape. It stopped midair and floated towards DJ's bed. He grinned, clearly pleased with his work, "That's your side of the room. And this (he waved his hand around), is mine."

"Is that what it's for?" Percy asked in mock surprise. "I thought it was keeping the house together."

"Make your jokes. But this is the best way we can be civil with each other."

The tape ran from the centre of the doorway to the wall opposite it. On either side were the windows and beside those were the two beds, placed at the two corners of the room. The other corners had two wooden cabinets for their clothes and bags and a nightstand each by the headboards of the beds. The room was compact but cozy for two inhabitants.

Percy walked forwards and deliberately toed the tape. DJ sighed. "Fine. Be juvenile about it. But I think this is a good idea."

"I think you're suffering from acute hunger. It's been more than two hours since we ate." Percy said, seriously.

DJ lowered his head by a fraction of an inch, staring at Percy's cabinet unblinkingly. The door flew open and all his clothes soared from their places, spreading all over the floor.

"Hey!" Percy yelled.

DJ shrugged, turning around and walking out the door. "Your room's messy. Better clean up before your mum sees it."

Percy gritted his teeth and looked around. He picked up his Gatorade bottle that was half full of water and uncapped it. He threw the water in the air and directed it to flow to DJ's bed, soaking the mattress completely. It was fun to do a bit of magic every now and then. Sally would make weird expressions every time they did it especially because of the underage restriction (which suddenly seemed to apply to Percy and Nico too). So, they took the time to exercise their powers in small rebellious acts.

Percy picked up his clothes and threw them in the dresser, shutting the door and jogging out of the room.

The kitchen had been cleaned up and was now the most spotless room in the house. Dinner was early because they were tired and ready to fall into their now warm beds (with the except of DJ's.)

"That looks…" Harry looked at the food curiously. "What is it?"

"Rumbledethumps." Sirius said.

"We're eating Rumplestiltskin?" Percy asked, staring at the large dish in suspicion. It looked like cooked mozzarella cheese though it smelled like potatoes.

"Rumble-de-thumps. " Remus said slowly, smiling as he served them, "It's a vegetarian Scottish meal. Healthy and filling."

"Is there another name for it?" Nico asked, watching as clumps of mashed potato and leaves were dropped on his plate.

"Bubble and Squeak." Sirius said. Percy sniggered. He tried it and found it hot, fresh and good.

They dug in and the silence was filled with the sound of spoons hitting the plates. Then Sirius cleared his throat. "Just a heads up, you remember that we're going to inform the Order about you two?"

Percy and Nico looked up. They'd already discussed it days ago. The Aurors had reached a dead end on the Rome incident. Harry could barely remember anything. His injuries had been so bad that the Healers had told them that losing memories of the event was expected. The people that had been caught had been mostly wizards with the exception of one person who had a crossbow with him when captured. They'd been taken into questioning, but with the press and the public on top of them, the progress had been slow. The only thing that was declared for sure was that it had nothing to do with Voldemort.

It meant that the secret of demigods was not known only to Sirius, Remus, DJ and Harry. There were others who knew as well. To even out the playing field, Percy and Nico had allowed them to tell the Order of the existence of Greek gods.

Should be fun.

"Yeah." Nico said, not looking too bothered. Percy shared a look with Sally.

"Yeah." He said. "You trust them. Someone on your – _our_ – side has to know."

"Okay." Sirius sat back, eyes wide. He was probably thinking of the potential mayhem that could descend when the secret was out.

"Emergency." Tonks told him. Sirius sat up again.

"How could I forget? Right, now you know that this is the safe house, so we haven't hooked up the floo to the network. I've been planning on setting up a lone connection to Frost as a backup. I'll give you your portkey chains that will be programmed to get you out of any mess if you need it. It'll bring you to Frost because we're staying here for now."

Sally nodded. "Are they ready?"

"Nearly. Dedalus is bringing them. Everyone will get one chain that they have to keep on them at all times. At least, when you're in the UK." Sirius concluded

"Although, if you activate it when you're in Manhattan, it'll still work." Remus added. "But they're Ministry sanctioned chains, so let's hope it doesn't come to that."

"So, with portkeys, we can just poof out any time we want?" Nico asked.

DJ choked on his Bubble and Squeak. Harry and Percy sniggered at the expressions that Sirius, Remus and Tonks were giving him. Sally spoke for them.

"Yes, Nico. You can poof anytime you want –"

"But portkey travel takes it out of you." Sirius said, emphasizing on it. "Once or twice is fine. But if you try it several times, you could pass out. Besides, the chains we're giving you can only take you to one destination."

Nico nodded, staring at his food. He didn't eat for a while. Percy finished his plate and took a second helping.

"So…" Harry asked slowly. Percy, and everyone else at the table, knew what he was going to ask. "Haven't you found anything substantial in Italy?"

Percy noticed that he didn't say the word 'Rome.' He never said it. He froze when others did.

"Not much. The building was…" Sirius hesitated for a second. "We couldn't get anything worthwhile from there."

"But you caught four blokes." Harry insisted. "Didn't they tell you anything?"

"Not a word." Remus said solemnly. "Either they're very sure of being rescued, or they're afraid of whoever is behind this."

Harry frowned at his dinner. Percy gripped his spoon tightly. Every time he thought of Rome, he remembered the arrow bolt that had hit him between the lungs, beside the heart, not damaging any organ. It was so perfect that he knew that Ajax had aimed it on purpose.

A shiver went down his spine. It had taken a lot of nerve to talk to Sally and Sirius and later, Annabeth, about him. She'd been right like always. Ajax the Lesser was insane. According to the stories, he'd done horrible things so much so that his own army and the Greek allies had turned on him and had tried to capture him. But he'd escaped them and found himself on a small island. From there, he'd boasted about how nobody, not even the gods could kill him.

And then Poseidon caused an earthquake and sank the island, killing him.

Percy couldn't imagine being in the room with Ajax for more than a few minutes. He back out of his thoughts when he heard a loud clatter.

Nico had dropped his spoon on his plate. They met loudly and stopped the uncomfortable conversation. Everyone looked at him. Nico looked stunned, head turning everywhere as though searching for something.

"Nico, what's wrong?" DJ asked.

Percy watched as Nico looked back at them. His eyes had gone round. If Percy didn't know him, he would have said that Nico looked a little surprised. But the truth was, he was scared.

Percy sat back, his hand immediately going for Riptide in his pocket. He could feel the contour of the pen.

"I … thought I heard something." Nico mumbled.

Percy frowned. He too looked around, but couldn't find anything out of the place.

"What did you hear?" Tonks said, frowning.

"Beating. Like a heart."

"Beating?" Remus said.

"Like a heart?" Harry asked.

"Like Jumanji?" Percy said, because he couldn't help it.

"Like what?"

"Jumanji. The game. It has drums." The explanation only made Nico, Tonks and the wizards confused.

"Not drums. I mean, like a heart."

"You can hear a heart beat?" Sirius asked, interested. "Is that a demigod thing or a son of Hades thing?"

"It's not a thing. No one can hear heart beats." Percy disagreed.

"Aunt Rosalie can." DJ pointed out.

"Aunt Rosalie is a vampire." Harry rolled his eyes.

"Can you hear heart beats?" Sally asked Remus, curiously.

"Not really, I have to focus in sile –"

"It felt really bad." Nico interrupted them.

Percy watched him. He really seemed stressed. Nico's hand was at the side of his waist where he always wore his invisible sword sheath.

"I don't hear anything out of the ordinary." Remus said frowning.

"But I did. It was so weird. Like a heart but a fake one." Nico insisted.

"A fake heart?"

"Yeah, not real."

"We know what fake means." Harry muttered. Percy gave him a look. _Not now, bro._

Harry raised his eyebrows. _You believe him?_

Percy looked back in surprise. _You don't?_

Harry exhaled in resignation. "Sorry, Nico. So, it sounded like a heart, but not a real one?"

"Yes." Nico looked around the kitchen again. Percy did the same. He contemplated getting up to search anything that felt or seemed out of the ordinary. But in a wizarding house full of strange magical artifacts and creatures, what was the definition of 'ordinary' and 'weird'?

There was a loud _crack!_ like a stick had been broken. It split the air cleanly and Percy had Riptide out in half a second. Nico had withdrawn his own sword while Harry was already on his feet, wand raised.

Sirius was out of his chair. "Damn that elf!"

"What?" Nico asked, looking around like puppy on alert.

Sirius bellowed, "Kreacher!"

With another loud sound, an old house elf with wrinkled folds of skin appeared in front of him. It had a rubbery tint to the skin, white tufts of hair sprouting from its ears and wore an old pillowcase for clothes. Its eyes were large and bloodshot and Percy wanted to back down, just to avoid looking at it.

Sally let out an "Eep!" at the sight. She clutched the handles of her chair, ready to jump away if necessary. Remus and Tonks looked resigned.

"Bad Master Sirius called Kreacher. What does he want?" Kreacher said, more like whispered to himself.

"Did you make that sound?" Sirius asked. He sounded furious.

"The sound of drums, Master Sirius. Yes."

This sudden admission of the truth startled Sirius. He stared down at the elf and his glare lessened. "Well, don't do that again. I don't want you scaring any of the inhabitants of this house. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Master Sirius. Kreacher understands. Filthy child of poor Mistress Black."

"Why is he talking like that?" Percy whispered. But Kreacher suddenly looked at him and continued in the low drone, "Strange muggle boy with sword. What new horrors in the Noble and Ancient House –"

"Shut up, Kreacher. I'm warning you." Sirius said.

"Sirius." Remus murmured.

There was an exaggerated sigh from the man. "Fine. Go have your dinner, Kreacher."

Kreacher bowed low, muttered something about _dirty muggles_ and disappeared with a loud sound.

"That little…" Sirius shook his head. "If you see him, ignore him. Hopefully, he'll keel over sometime soon."

"Sirius!" Sally protested.

"Come now, Sally. Do you really want him to wander about the house in the middle of the night making funny sounds? None of us would get any sleep."

"You don't have to be rude to him." She said firmly.

"He started it." Sirius said, finishing his dinner.

"It's a long process." Remus explained. He looked at Nico. "It's nothing to worry. Kreacher is odd, but he won't harm you."

"What… exactly is he?" Nico asked, hesitant on sounding callous.

"House elf. Lowest on the rung." Sirius said, briskly. "I can't get rid of him because he heard us talk about the Order. If I turn him out, he can spill everything he heard to the first stranger he meets."

Percy stared at his food, feeling more tired than hungry.

"Best keep your doors locked when you sleep." Tonks suggested, cleaning her plate. "I know for a fact that he can stare at you for hours without you even realizing it."

Percy shuddered again. The room felt strangely colder than before.

* * *

Harry had a fitful sleep. His potions were careful muscle relaxers and meant only for after dinner dosage so, he almost always had dreamless nights which were brilliant. Soon, he'd have to work himself off of that. He was allowed to use them only for a week.

He woke up the next morning to find DJ and Percy arguing right outside the room. Nico groaned, turned over in his bed and buried his head underneath his pillow. Harry gave a sigh and removed his sleep mask. It was already daylight, probably around seven. He lay in bed for a few seconds before shrugging off the sheets and getting out of bed.

Hedwig woke up as well, lifting her head from behind her wing. She was perched on her stand beside his bed. She looked at him before shaking her entire body ad extending her wings. With a graceful lift and swoop, she landed on his shoulder. Her weight was a comforting presence. In a way, he knew that his back was protected with her watching over him.

With a methodical air, he walked to the door, unlocked it and pulled it open, to face the duo.

"What?" Harry asked, leaning against the door frame. Hedwig hooted as though to echo his query.

Percy and DJ stopped fighting long enough to snigger at him.

"What?" He asked again, irritated.

"Your hair." Percy giggled. "It's like static electricity."

Harry patted his hair down and turned up the glare. "Why the hell are you yelling in the morning? That's not permitted in any country, as far as I know."

"Except in the military." Nico's sleepy voice issued from under the blankets.

"It's…" DJ huffed. "It's nothing."

"It's something!" Percy exclaimed. "You woke me up and dragged me out of bed in the middle of the night!"

"I told you, I'd heard something!"

Harry tilted his head towards DJ. "Heard what?"

The fourteen year old looked timid suddenly. He peeked inside to catch a sight of Nico. "I heard a heartbeat."

Nico's blankets flew away like someone had summoned them. He was up and by their side in three seconds.

"Good morning." Harry said, amused.

"You heard it!"

"Yeah." DJ said in defeat. "You were right. It's like a heartbeat, but not actually real. It's not drums, though."

"Well, I didn't hear anything." Percy said.

"Neither did I." Harry agreed.

"I didn't wake up during the night." Nico commented thoughtfully. "But did you follow it?"

"Are you serious?" Percy spluttered. "You don't follow the creepy sound that no one else hears! That's like rule number 6 on the haunted house survival guide."

"What's rule number 1?" DJ asked.

"Don't move into a haunted house."

Harry disguised his yawn as a sigh. "Fine, then. What did you do?"

"We got out of bed, looked around the room, got out of the room, looked around the hallway and went back in and fell asleep." Percy said.

"I stayed awake for a while." DJ groaned, stretching his limbs.

Harry dug the heel of his palms into his eyes. Thankfully, the light was dim enough for easy sight and Harry wasn't worried about his eyes or ears anymore. The healing process was close to the end. He should have known that it was too much to ask for a regular couple of days. Sirius was right in dreading the house.

"Do you want to talk to Kreacher?" He asked them. Nico and DJ looked doubtful. Even Percy hesitated.

"I don't like him." DJ said.

"You don't have to like him to talk to him." Harry reasoned. "May be it's his ritual to make the sound. He was alone for ten years, who knows what he did to occupy himself?"

They made up their mind about it and Harry thought about where he'd packed his toothpaste.

"I wish I could hear it." Percy said as he and DJ walked back to their room.

Harry thought about that. Why couldn't anyone else catch the sound? A peculiar heartbeat that didn't feel like a heart? It was weird to just think about it. He remembered when he once heard the Basilisk through the school. No one else had been able to hear it and it had set him on edge. At least here, Nico wasn't the only one exposed to it. DJ had heard it as well and Kreacher had confirmed that he'd made the noise. Whatever it was, Harry hoped it wasn't dangerous.

The morning was briefly slow after that. Tonks had already left since it was Monday. Auror and Order work had begun for the week and Remus had started to clear up Sirius' father's office which was declared out of bounds for everyone else. Harry guessed there was a lot to do in there. Sally was still asleep. She had to go for work in a few hours and was making the most of it. Sirius was setting up the floo connection to Frost for her to travel back to the States.

Harry stepped out of the shower, running a hand through his damp hair that, for once, was limp on his head. He had a whole new set of clothes that Sally and DJ had bought him. His cousin loved to shop. Harry figured it was a form of escapism. He got on his trousers and had slung a shirt over his shoulders when Nico exclaimed from the entrance, "Wow!"

"Nico, don't you knock?!"

"The door was open and it's my room too." Nico said in a hurry, rushing in and staring at Harry's chest. "What was that?"

"It's nothing, it's just a mark."

"It looks like a lightning mark, like the one on your forehead."

Harry glared at him. Nico looked a little abashed but continued. "Is that where it happened?"

With a great struggle, he pushed the shirt from his chest to show the scar to Nico. A jagged cut permanently marked the skin over his heart. It was dull red against the dark edges around it where the blood had clotted and had re-healed.

Nico raised a hand like he wanted to touch it but put it back immediately. Harry was glad for that.

"Does it hurt?"

"No. It's just sensitive."

Nico nodded, looking awed and quiet. Harry raised his eyebrows and brought the two edge of his shirt to button them up. "Exhibition time is over. Did you eat?"

"Nope. I was waiting for you. Percy and DJ aren't ready yet."

Harry and Nico went down to the kitchen where their breakfast was already set out. The room was warmer which re-enforced the idea that the kitchen was best place in the house. Harry sat down and turned his neck to get rid of a crick.

"Ooh, what's that?" Nico asked staring at the large container in the middle of the table.

"Porridge with blueberries" Harry watched as Nico took a small bowl of it and dug in. Despite the fear inducing tales of children of the dead and the constant inquisitiveness, he liked the kid.

There was a great rush of thumping from above. Either a stampede of hippogriffs was descending the stairs, or Percy and DJ were running. Then he heard Sirius yelling, "Any louder and you'll wake up everything in the house!"

The sound stopped. Nico sniggered when two sullen teenagers trudged into the room. Percy and DJ looked worse than before they'd taken baths. There was a decided paleness about them that made Harry stop eating and stare at them warily.

They dropped into their chairs and took their breakfast silently. Nico looked surprised too. They stared at each other before watching them.

"What happe –"

"I heard it!" Percy hissed. His eyes were wide, adrenaline rushing through his limbs. He looked ready to fight or run.

Nico sat up. "You heard the heart beat?"

"I heard the heart beat! We have to tell Sirius!"

"Okay. Hold on a second!" Harry said to calm him down but Percy didn't have any of it.

"We're telling him after breakfast."

"Percy –"

"It was super creepy!" Percy whispered. "It felt like my own heart was trying to compete against it and I was losing!"

DJ winced. "It was worse than last night."

Nico looked worried. "But I didn't hear anything now."

Percy looked at Harry. "What about you?"

Harry thought about it. "No. But if the progression keeps up, I might hear it."

"What progression?"

Harry pointed at Nico. "He heard it first. Then DJ and then you. I'm guessing it goes age wise."

Percy gave a groan. "I nearly slipped in the shower. The worst thing to hear when you're naked is a strange sound that makes it seem like there was someone in the bathroom with you!"

The kitchen didn't feel as warm as before. Harry clenched his jaw before he raised his voice and said, "Kreacher!"

Nothing happened. The house elf hadn't appeared.

"You don't own him, Harry." DJ pointed out. "He doesn't have to listen to you."

"He might listen if we threaten him." Harry shrugged. "I'll have you know that hearing strange sounds actually is not a good thing however strange we all are."

"Who says we're strange?" Nico asked.

Harry paused for a second before turning back to his porridge. He heard Percy clear his throat and mutter, "Someone has an identity crisis.

"Shut up, Percy."

"It's true! You keep thinking yourself as abnormal. I blame the Dursleys."

Percy popped a blueberry in his mouth, grinning. Suddenly, the tense mood dissipated. The four boys ate their breakfast in the silence.

Harry's thoughts revolved around the 'identity crisis.' He didn't have _that_. He knew who he was. He was a wizard, he was the boy-who-lived; he was Harry Potter. He liked girls and boys were pretty hot too...

Well, that's new.

Not that he felt like snogging anyone. After Thalia, he hadn't felt anything till Rome.

He gripped his spoon tightly. No, he didn't want to kiss anyone. But every time he thought of the couple who'd given him the shirtless hug, he felt a fluttering in his chest and cold sweat on his neck. Every time he thought of Thalia, he remembered how sharp her lips were and how amazing it was –

Artemis and Zeus would kill him if they knew what he was thinking.

The point was that he knew who he was. He was Harry Potter. There was nothing abnormal about him.

"So there." He mumbled.

"What?" Percy asked.

"Nothing."

Sirius walked in, his face and hands covered in soot. He smiled at them, "Good morning. What's the plan for today?"

"We're supposed to continue cleaning the house." DJ reminded him.

"Right. Of course. You guys can start in the library." He turned on the kitchen tap to wash his hands.

"There's a library here?" Nico asked. DJ looked up in excitement and Percy groaned.

"Hmm? Yes. I've cordoned off the section where all the lovely devil magic is. So it's safe. Just open the glass cases to air them, get rid of the dust and mop the floor. Remus will be next door. I'll have to leave for a bit."

Harry frowned. "Is it Order business? I thought you're supposed to have your meetings here."

Sirius turned around. "In a way, yes. Dumbledore and the Minister have a meeting today. It's in the paper." He tossed them the Daily Prophet that had been on the kitchen platform. Harry caught it and read the headlines.

 _ **MINISTRY ISSUES SAFETY PAMPHLETS TO THE PUBLIC TO KEEP VIGILANT**_

 _With the lack of direct Death Eater appearances or that of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, Minister Fudge has put forward circulars for the public to not let their guard down. With every copy of the Daily Prophet is the pamphlet listing security measures that help continue the relative peaceful atmosphere._

" _We don't want to be unprepared for this. The Department of Magical Law Enforcement and the Auror Office has given strict instructions for the sake of everyone's safety. The pamphlets are a vital part of the exercise and we hope to instill the sense of awareness and duty every witch and wizard must have towards children and the muggles living in their neighbourhood. Today's meeting with Albus Dumbledore will be about the discussion of further and widespread effective measures that will be carried starting from noon."_

The article went on for half the page. The photo was of Dumbledore with Fudge and a few others beside them. Harry recognized Kingsley Shacklebolt and Mad Eye. There were two women as well, which the photo stated as 'Amelia Bones' and 'Dolores Umbridge'.

"These are colourful." Percy said, looking at one of the pamphlet copies that fell from within the folds of the paper.

"They're meant to be instructive." Sirius said, pointedly. "It lists the basic security charms and wards and how to properly lock fire places and front doors. It's a start, but we have a long way to go. Voldemort will strike sooner or later; we need to cover all our bases."

"What's he waiting for?" DJ asked, snatching the pamphlet from Percy.

"He's probably setting up a plan, trying to let everyone go into the false hope of safety and then attacking when we're at our weakest." Harry said, finishing his porridge.

Sirius exhaled. "Succinctly put, Harry. We should include you in the Order. Mad Eye will love it."

Harry looked up in surprise. "Wait, I'm not in the Order?"

Percy, Nico and DJ stopped eating. Sirius froze for a second before trying for a casual statement, "Well, Harry… no, you're not."

"Why not?"

"All members have to be above Hogwarts age. Fifteen is far too young –"

"Young?" Harry demanded. "I've faced enough to know how dangerous it is!"

"Exactly! You shouldn't have to go through that!"

"But regardless of whether I'm part of the Order or not, I'll always be in danger!"

Sirius pressed his lips together. Harry stood up. "I'm coming with you."

"No." Without another word, Sirius turned around and walked out of the kitchen. Harry was so shocked that he stayed there for a moment before running after him.

"Sirius!" He hissed. "You can't exclude me!"

They stopped in the large hall. Sirius didn't look angry, but he was determined and Harry could see that. "I'm sorry, Harry. But you will not be inducted in the Order and you will not attend the meeting."

"You want me to stay back and clean up the house?" Harry asked incredulously. "I'm as much a part of this as you are. I'm target number one!"

"No!" Sirius yelled. He closed his eyes and lowered his voice. "No. I don't care what Voldemort thinks, I will not put you in the line of fire."

"I'm already there." Harry said quietly. "Voldemort doesn't care if I'm fifteen or an adult. He came after me when I was one, he'll come after me anytime he gets a good chance. The only way I can prepare myself is if I'm in the know. If you make me ignorant, I'll be easy picking."

"You won't." Sirius looked angry. "I won't let you get hurt."

"He's not looking to hurt me, Sirius. He's looking to kill me. He's already done it once, everyone knows that!"

He regretted saying that. Sirius eyes tightened. Harry leaned away, wishing he could take back his words.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean –"

"He won't get anywhere near you." Sirius said, emphasizing the point. "This house is under the Fidelius charm. Dumbledore is Secret Keeper. You'll have an armed escort when you leave on the first of September. King's Cross will have security at all check points. The Aurors will be at the Hogsmeade station to see that everyone gets into Hogwarts safely. The castle already as seven kinds of ward upgrades on it. No one can get through them unless they're Hogwarts students or staff."

Harry blinked and opened his mouth but no sound came out.

"We're not taking this lightly. Just because Voldemort isn't in the country, doesn't mean we're relaxed about it. He can execute plans from another continent, but he is not going to get you. You have my word on that."

"But I need to know if there's something important. I'm in this fight just like you." Harry told him. "What if something does happen?"

"It won't."

"What if something happens to you?!"

Sirius suddenly calmed down. "The point is to keep you safe."

"So it's fine if you get hurt?"

"No. But the aim is to keep you and all the kids unharmed." Sirius clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Besides, I can take care of myself."

"I can take care of myself too!" Harry protested.

"That's what I mean, Harry! You shouldn't have to always look behind to see if you're safe. You're a kid! The thing you have to be worried about is that it's your OWL year and about the Quidditch season! Not about Voldemort!" Sirius's voice was loud.

"You want me to ignore the fact that there'll be a war?!"

"It won't come to that." Sirius said. "We have the advantage now. Everyone knows that he's back. We're better off than you think."

"Are we?" Harry threw his hands up, abandoning caution. The lights in the room flickered. "Then you know everything you need to know? You know who bewitched the Triwizard Cup to act as a portkey? Do you figure out what exactly happened to Crouch? Do you know how Voldemort got into Hogwarts grounds? Do you know why he couldn't kill me?!"

"Harry!" Sirius yelled, shaking from his words. "Stay here. Stay out of trouble."

He turned around and headed for the cold corridor. Harry gaped. "Are you bloody kidding me?!"

"Don't make me ground you!" Sirius shouted. His mother's portrait let out a shriek. The curtains flew open, revealing the terrible sight of a frail, molting witch with yellowing skin and rolling eyes, spewing curses at Sirius. " _Shame of my father's blood, besmirching my house!_ "

"Shut up!" Sirius roared, pulling out his wand and aim a stunner at her.

Harry watched in disbelief as Sirius left the house. He'd hoped that he would be involved. He was what Voldemort truly wanted. He should know what was happening. Of all the people, he didn't think Sirius would refuse him.

"Harry?"

He looked back slowly. Remus and Sally stood at the base of the stairs watching him carefully. He felt like a rabid animal that people would watch, trying to decide to save him or put him down.

He tried to calm his breathing. "I'm fine." He said.

He went back to the kitchen. Percy, Nico and DJ, who had been listening in on the conversation immediately started to hog down their porridge. Harry seized his plate and dumped it noisily into the sink to wash it.

Blood rushed to his ears. He had never fought with Sirius like that. He had never expected him to keep him out of the loop. Sirius had always understood him or at least tried to. Sirius always knew that Harry wasn't just a kid, but a fighter. Why would he suddenly treat him like a child?

"Harry?" It was Remus. He was using his calm professor voice. "Why don't you join me in the office? You can help me clear out the book cabinets."

Harry stared at the soap suds on the plate. "Alright." He said in a monotone.

And just as he stepped away from the sink, he heard it. The heartbeat. It wasn't loud, but it felt so close that Harry froze, waiting for something to happen. Nothing did. But the sound was still there.

 _Lub-Dub. Lub-Dub. Lub-Dub._

The sound was low and intense. His own heart tried to beat along with it, but failed. It sounded like it was coming from everywhere, but Harry shut his eyes and strained his ears which hurt from the pressure of the strange beating. The sound was in his head.

It stopped. Harry opened his eyes and looked over at the table. Nico, DJ and Percy had heard it too. They were staring into space, just coming back to reality. Remus and Sally, who were also in the room, where watching them.

"Did you hear that?" Harry asked in a whisper. He already knew the answer because they looked surprised.

"Hear what?" Sally said, confused. Remus looked around with a frown. Harry had the strangest feeling that they were being watched and it wasn't Kreacher.

* * *

 **Well, that got out of hand. Stay tuned, readers!**

 **Q: Who is Frank Zhang's living, mortal relative?**

 **Cabba.**


	4. Haunted

**This story is going too slow, if you ask me. Let's speed it up.**

 **A: I'm talking about the legacy, Grandma Zhang, one of the best characters in the Heroes of Olympus.**

 **Listening to – Ma Baker by Boney M**

* * *

They couldn't find Kreacher. Remus told them that Sirius would be back by noon, but the fact that they'd heard something that neither he nor Sally could, bothered them.

"He's doing this to scare you." Remus assured them. "We've checked the house and all potentially harmful objects are in the attic. We've moved the unwanted furniture to the basement and besides the bedrooms and kitchen, everything else just need cleaning."

"But why couldn't you or mom hear it?" Percy asked.

"It might be part of the trick!" Remus sounded less sure, but he tried to keep an upbeat tone. He gave them a quick smile and looked towards Harry.

"Uh... I'll stay down here and help clean up..." Harry said immediately. He had no wish to talk to an adult.

Sally's frown worried him. It was like they knew something that he didn't. He hated not knowing. Harry cleared his throat and stood straight. "Really, I'm fine. I'll talk to Sirius when he gets back. I just need to cool down."

Even as he said it, Harry wondered if he was really at fault for yelling at Sirius. His godfather had yelled as well. It's not like he needed therapy.

Whatever the others thought.

"Alright." Remus looked towards Sally before nodding. He looked at DJ, Percy and then Nico with a close lipped smile. "I'll be in the office."

He walked out of the kitchen and Harry looked over at Sally. She was in her night gown, her hair in disarray. She'd just woken up, probably from the argument.

"I'm going back to bed. I need to be up in three hours." Sally said, shooting them a grin and leaving as well. "Be careful."

"Always." Percy said, waving her off. The wood creaked and the moment they heard her on the stairs, DJ shot up to his feet.

"We need to find that noise." He said.

Percy looked up at the ceiling and groaned. "Do you know nothing? Rule number 4 of the haunted house survival guide says that you should never ever follow the creepy sound."

"But it's not completely creepy, right?" Nico asked, setting aside his bowl. "We know that the house elf's making it."

"That's what we think." DJ corrected him. "Remus could be wrong."

"But Kreacher said it himself, that he was responsible for it." Harry reminded him. "He can't lie to Sirius."

"Well then..." DJ struggled to find a point. "What do we do?"

Percy dropped the rest of the dishes into the sink. "We clean the common rooms."

"Aren't any of you a little bit curious?" DJ asked when no one moved.

Nico shrugged. "I think Kreacher's the one doing it."

"I'm not in the mood for a mystery, DJ. I just want a peaceful summer." Harry admitted.

"Summer is almost over." Percy pointed out.

"Well, I want to relax for the fortnight."

Percy bounced on his feet. "Yes! Let's do that! Let's relax and clean the house."

"Come on, I'm bored!" DJ complained.

"And you wanna spend time investigating strange sounds?" Percy protested.

"Yeah! What's the harm? We can just find Kreacher. It's not like it could be anything bad!"

Harry could suggest a wild variety of things of what a fake heartbeat could mean. He had a vivid imagination when it came to the macabre.

"I thought demigods are supposed to be brave and stuff." DJ said, frowning.

Percy stared. "Oh, you want to be speciest about this? Fine. We are known for our survival skills as well. Is that part not mentioned in The Modern Demigod?"

Suddenly, everyone froze. Nico, DJ and Percy turned to watch Harry with a bit of trepidation. He blinked back at them. "What?"

There was a three second silence before Nico said, "Nothing."

DJ looked around wildly for a second before attacking Percy again. "So... er, why do you suddenly know about haunted houses?"

Percy exhaled and rubbed the back his neck like he needed to distract himself from the scene. Harry suspected that something had changed the situation, but he wasn't sure what.

"Annabeth ...likes... the slasher genre." Percy mumbled, bowing his head, his face flushing. "We watched, like a bunch of them."

"You watched..." Harry stared. "Is that what you guys were really doing in the Big House?! I thought you were snogging!"

"No, we weren't! Gods, is that what everyone thought?!"

Harry began to laugh. In the aftermath of the battle of the Labyrinth, they had been busy with reparations to the damage caused. Annabeth and Percy took a break of a couple of hours almost every other day to hole themselves up in the Big House. The campers were giggly with the thought especially when Nico, Stanley and Harvey confirmed that they were _watching scary movies_.

"You were just watching the movies?" Nico asked cynically.

"Yeah! What did _you_ think we were doing?"

Nico and Harry shared a look. The word 'naive' came to mind, but Harry thought better than to say it out loud.

"Well then. We have an expert." DJ surmised. "Next time we hear it. We follow it and find Kreacher, if he is the one doing it."

They cleared up their plates and went straight up to the landing of the fourth floor. There were only two doors, both of which were locked. One of them was, undoubtedly to the loft that had been especially designated off limits to them. The other door was a mystery. DJ had an expression of curiosity by Percy gave him such a dramatic flourish of waving his hands that he gave up.

Nico and Percy proceeded to sweep and mop the stairs, while DJ cleared the cobwebs off of the railings and the banisters. Harry used a cloth to catch anything they might have missed. It took longer than expected, but then they started humming the Ghostbuster theme, followed by Batman and Superman. Percy did most of the singing. He could never hit the right notes, but it wasn't too bad. They laughed every time he added a high octave to the music.

By the time they reached the ground floor and proceeded to clean the staircase that lead to the basement, it had been nearly an hour. They heard Sally listening to 'Boney M' in the kitchen. She was on a retro roll.

They were nearly done when they heard the sound again. It was louder. Each thump hit Harry's chest and he grabbed the cold wall. _Lub-dub, lub-dub, lub-dub_. It was the strangest thing he'd ever heard. It felt inorganic as though it could have been a machine trying to be alive, trying to outlive everyone.

Percy dropped the mop. Nico and DJ froze, eyes wide from the beats. Harry knew why this round affected them the most. The beat was forceful, hammering at his own heart with its rhythm. It was issuing from the basement.

The sound stopped and Harry breathed in, relaxing a little. Whatever Kreacher was playing at, he had to know.

He stepped forwards to reach for the door handle when Percy grabbed his wrist. "What?!"

"We're not barred from the basement." Harry reminded him.

"Since when did you get _curious_?"

"Since when did _you_ get cautious?"

"It sounded like metal." Nico whispered, staring at the door. Harry tried to remember what Sirius had said about it. They'd dumped a bit of the furniture down there, all broken and unused. It was probably Kreacher's hideout.

"This is ridiculous." DJ muttered and grabbed at the handle and turned it. It didn't budge, so he took out his wand and said, " _Alohomora_."

The door still remained locked. Percy shrugged. "Oh well, we tried."

Harry rolled his eyes. "You can't possibly think we'd give up now."

Percy folded his arms. "Fine. Open it. And I won't say a word."

"If we unlock it, you're opening it." DJ smirked.

Harry looked up, wondering if Sally had left the kitchen, but all he could hear where the lyrics to the song – _Ma Baker, she had her four sons..._

He took out his wand and pointed at the door handle with a small flick, " _Aberto_."

There was a click and the handle shifted a bit. DJ looked towards Percy with a smug grin. Percy frowned, looked at all of them and then sighed. He turned to face the door fully, opening and closing his fists, reaching hesitantly for the handle, pausing every now and then.

"Percy?" Harry whispered. "We're actually _not_ in a horror movie. Just open the damn door."

With a burst of energy, Percy grabbed the handle, turned it and pushed open the door. It swung with quietly and what shocked them was not a strange sight or sound, but a smell. Something was rotting in the room, filling the air with a noxious, sick worthy stench.

Nico gagged, clapping a hand over his nose. DJ recoiled and Percy choked. Harry grimaced. The only image he could get was that of a decomposing body.

But the basement looked as normal as a muggle's cellar. Sunlight filtered through the small glass panes that were on the wall, touching the ceiling. Dust floated aimlessly, settling down on the four large shelves that were stacked side by side. A broken table, larger than the one they had in the kitchen, covered more than half the room. Harry wondered if there was a corpse of a creature under it.

"Bugger, that looks like mould!" DJ hissed, pointing to the wall opposite them. Harry spotted a greenish fungus like growth, the size of his palm, on the cement.

Percy wrenched out his inhaler from his pocket and took a hit, breathing through his mouth.

"It's moving!" Nico yelled. Harry jumped. The fungus did look like it was shifting in its place.

"Urgh!" Percy leaned to reach for the door handle and pulled it, slamming it shut. "There! Happy?!" He asked, furiously. "We almost died from the smell alone!"

"What smell?" Sally asked, scaring the wits out of the four boys. She was looking over them, leaning against the railing on the ground floor. She was already dressed in her sky blue blouse and smart trousers, hair piled up neatly in a bun, ready for the office.

"Um... you look pretty, mom." Percy said immediately but she raised an eyebrow at him.

Nico rushed up the stairs to her, strangely excited. "We saw this slime and it smelled like a dead body!"

"What?" She looked flabbergasted.

* * *

That was the end of their adventure. By the time Remus had it checked out and Sirius was back, Harry had forgotten about the strange heartbeat. Apparently, the cellar had a small infestation of Bundimun, a creature that reeked of corpses and destroyed houses by multiplying and feasting on rotting wood. So, it was a good thing after all that they'd decided to investigate the basement. Bundimuns were dangerous since they could actually spray poison that could eat away any surface it landed on.

There was nothing else of note in the room and after noon, Tonks had reached back, with a bushy haired brunette in tow.

Harry couldn't help his grin. It had been too long since they'd seen each other. Hermione had been in France for most of her vacations and owl post was sparse in between. The moment she saw him, she let out a happy yell and rushed to him, throwing her arms around his neck.

Harry laughed at her enthusiasm. "Hey, Hermione. How have you been?"

She pulled back, a bright smile flitting across her face. "Forget about me, what happened to you?! I had to find out in the paper that you were kidnapped! Ron only knew so much and you hadn't mailed anything –"

"I was in the hospital for most of the time." Harry reminded her. They separated and she turned around to hug DJ.

"Oh, hi Percy." Hermione said in surprise when she saw the demigod. Percy grinned. "Hi, Hermione. Wanna hug?"

She simply chuckled. Then she spotted Nico, lurking behind the couch. "Hello."

"Um... hello."

Percy clapped a hand on Nico's shoulder. "This is my cousin, Nico di Angelo. Nico, this is Hermione Granger, Harry's best friend."

Nico didn't move from his spot, just giving her a shy smile. Hermione tried to keep up her jovial mood, but Harry could see the tell tale signs of her trying to deconstruct the boys. He knew that she'd figured out that they weren't wizards or muggles.

"Let's get your trunk upstairs." Harry said, nodding at DJ. He wasn't supposed to do any heavy lifting. DJ looked around. Remus, Sirius and Tonks were in the kitchen. He then placed a hand on Hermione's trunk and it lifted itself off of the floor, hovering by their waists. Hermione stared at him.

"You've been practicing." She accused him, good-naturedly.

"Kind of." DJ winked and headed for the staircase. Harry gestured her to follow him. Percy and Nico remained in the hall.

"So..." Hermione began as they reached the third floor. "How many secrets are you keeping?"

Harry and DJ let out a sigh. If only she knew...

"I know there's something different about Percy. And Nico looks the same –"

"Hermione, we'll tell you." Harry said patiently. The bedroom that was closest to the stairs was the one assigned to Hermione and Ginny. He opened it and DJ directed the trunk inside.

She shut the door once they were in and folded her arms. Harry wondered when she had perfected the McGonagall glare because she was delivering a proper rendition of it at the moment.

"It's complicated." DJ said, setting the trunk down next to one of the beds. Hermione huffed.

"It's actually not that complicated." Harry revised the statement. "But it is a long story."

"I'm all ears."

"You must be hungry, though."

"I just had lunch."

"Well, I'm hungry."

"You ate lunch twenty minutes ago, DJ." Harry said, frowning at him.

DJ blinked. "Oh. I thought we were stalling."

"Just tell me." Hermione said again. She stood in front of the door like the ultimate barrier and Harry relented.

"Fine. We were actually going to announce to the Order once they were all here. Percy and Nico are demigods."

Hermione's expression didn't change. For a moment, Harry wondered if she had already figured that part out, but then she said, "I'm sorry?"

" _Demi_ -gods." DJ said slowly. "Half humans and half gods."

The strangest look took over her face. Harry had never seen her so confused. He stifled in the urge to laugh.

"Breathe." He told her. "Come here, sit down."

It was a whole twenty minutes later when Hermione finally realised that they were telling the truth. She kept mouthing the word 'gods' to herself once in a while, her eyes glazed. DJ looked worried till she exclaimed, "Like Heracles?"

"Yes." Harry latched on to it. "Hercules was a son of Zeus. Percy _is_ a son of Poseidon and Nico _is_ a son of Hades."

"Please take note of the present tense." DJ added.

Hermione's hands fluttered across her mattress till she caught the handle of her trunk. She unlocked it and yanked it open. Harry and DJ peered in. The only things they could see where a mound of books, that seemed impossibly stuffed inside. She rifled through them, pushing each tome aside till she grabbed one that looked about as old and damaged as Grimmauld Place itself. It had a worn moss green leather cover with barely legible gold symbols in Latin.

They waited patiently for her to find whatever she needed to ground herself back into her reality.

"Read this!" She shoved the book into Harry's hands, poke at the page on the left. There was rudimentary old artwork of a black figure tied to a stone pillar with a large bird poking at its chest. Harry couldn't read Latin fluently, but it took him only a few seconds to understand the image.

"There are stories of Prometheus rooted in Sorcery culture." Hermione whispered excitedly. She indicated the passage below the picture. "It talks about how Prometheus knew he would be punished by ... Lord Zeus, but still brought down fire and all its knowledge for the Paleolithic humans. There are other books that talk of different mysterious properties of the fire itself that he gifted mankind."

Harry stared at the page. Something slowly clicked in his mind.

"Wait!" DJ sprang up to his feet. "Are you saying that it was _Prometheus_ who brought down magic for us?"

"Shush!" Hermione and Harry hissed. He looked towards the door. He couldn't see a shadow beneath it, but didn't want to risk it till there was evidence.

"It's an educated guess." Hermione said nervously. "The timing would make it right, because about a hundred years after this, the first recorded spells were invented. There are two existing Grimoires from that era."

"We thought it would have been Hecate." Harry told her, turning the pages. If this was true, then Zeus would definitely not trust wizards and witches. He had punished Prometheus for centuries till Hercules came and freed him.

"Hecate... the goddess of magic... of course... maybe..." She began to mutter to herself again. Then she shook her head. "No, I think he is the more likely choice because this book states that there were secrets in the fire that he gave away. I think it was Fiendfyre."

The word was hushed. Harry shuddered. He had never encountered it but had had Snape explain to the class in his third year when he had been threatening them as usual. Hermione had read up on it and had explained to Ron and him about how Fiendfyre was one of the most destructive forms of magic ever created.

"Are you talking about cursed fire?" DJ asked, frowning at the book. Hermione nodded and DJ exhaled, looking stunned.

"Well... let's not tell this to anyone." DJ said. "At least... not yet."

Harry handed the book back to Hermione. "That's easier said than done. Once we tell the Order, they're all going to do their own research. Dumbledore will surely figure it out."

"I don't want to tell them that Percy and Nico's uncle, who happens to hold all power, actually hates the person who gave us magic in the first place!" DJ whisper yelled.

"I don't want to let them make wild conclusions from this. The best thing to do is to just tell them."

"Wait, just wait." Hermione said. She stood up, a calculating look on her face. "We don't have concrete proof of this. This is a theory that has been debated for years. It may not even be true."

"But you think it's relevant." Harry pointed out.

She frowned. "It's the most convincing myth I've come across. But I'm no scholar. I don't know enough about the origins of magic. There are professionals in the matter who are still unsure of this. We're nowhere to that level."

"Alright." DJ hopped on the spot. "So we're not telling them?"

Harry looked at Hermione carefully. It was obvious that she would start a secret year long project on the subject. They had the time so why not use it?

Before he could say anything, there was a loud crash from downstairs. Even though they were thirty feet up, they could now hear the screaming of all the portraits in the cold hallway, loudest of which was Mrs. Black, screeching all possible verbal abuse _– red haired demons, destroying the sanctity of my home..._

* * *

Once the Weasleys were settled in, it was a full house. There were still empty rooms on the second floor, but it hardly mattered. Grimmauld place was suddenly far more lively and comfortable especially with Molly Weasley scolding Fred and George for their multitude of strange sweets, Ginny and Ron yelling about misplaced socks and Percy annoying Percy on the similarities of their names.

"Isn't Neville here yet?" Percy Weasley asked, desperately trying to find salvation from Percy Jackson's queries.

"Neville's coming here?" Hermione asked in surprise.

"Yeah!" Ron said, excitedly. They were mostly packed in the hall in front of the hearth where red flames tickled the chimney walls. Hermione, Fred and Harry were on the couch while, Nico was showing his Mythomagic cards to Ginny and George and Ron and DJ were snickering at Percy J. hindering Percy W.

"Dad says that Neville and his parents will reach before dinner. They have to leave discreetly, because no one else knows about them." Ron explained.

"Neville's parents?" Hermione asked. She was frowning. Harry realised she didn't know the story.

"Alice is mum's younger sister." Fred told Hermione. "She and her husband Frank were in the first Order too. Mum hated that she joined especially because of what happened afterwards."

"What happened?"

It seemed as if the fire dimmed. Harry looked at Ginny whose shoulders were tense. He knew she had moderate control of fire. It was her Core magic. He found himself idly wondering if she could produce Fiendfyre. There was no way she would be able to control it, though. Even grown-ups could barely conjure it let alone control or even extinguish it.

"They were attacked by the Lestranges." Percy W. said softly. "Driven insane. For fourteen years."

Hermione clapped a hand over her mouth. Nobody said a word and Harry felt the weight of his silence press him into the couch. Dionysus had taken barely a minute to remember the names and _fix_ their minds. Completely healed. The Longbottoms had lost fourteen years but had gained a miracle.

Nico's voice rose over the crackling of wood in the hearth. "But they're okay, now?"

George sat up. "Yeah! It's unbelievable, 'cause the healers always said that they'd never wake up. But a couple of weeks ago, they just got up and started walking around, asking what date it was."

"Cor." DJ said, stunned. "That's amazing."

"It is." Ginny said quietly. "You should have seen mum. She started crying when she heard the news. Neville's been sending loads of letters. He's so excited."

Harry saw Percy J. looking at him. They didn't say a word, but looked away. He couldn't know. No one did. Harry and Rachel were the only ones. Or did Dionysus tell someone? He could have. He had no obligation to keep it a secret.

He looked back into the fire. It grew warmer after Fred said, "So, how was your summer?"

Harry purposely kept his mouth shut. Hermione told them about her trip to France and DJ talked about the cricket match he'd been to with Aunt Rosalie and Colin Creevey's family.

"Harry?" Sirius called from the doorway. Glad to get away before his turn came, Harry left the room and entered the kitchen. He stopped just inside the entrance, jaw dropping when he saw who was sitting at the table, eating a sandwich.

Severus Snape looked even surlier and pastier than before summer. How was that possible? He sat in his usual black robes, long hair falling unflatteringly over his head. His skin had a grey tinge as though he'd visited Azkaban, recently.

Sirius let out a long sigh. He looked carefully at Harry and explained. "Harry, do you know what Occlumency is?"

Crap.

"Yes." He said immediately. He could see where this was going. "I know what it is and I practice –"

"Did you have a tutor?" Snape asked.

"No –"

"Proper Occlumency training requires an actual trainer, Potter. Unlike what Granger tells you, you can't learn everything from a book."

There it was. Harry hadn't missed the loathing filled voice one bit.

"Put a cork in it, Snape. He knows the basics. That's a start." Sirius snapped.

Snape finished his food and sat up, black eyes sneering at Sirius. "If you'd rather not need my assistance..."

Sirius raised his head as though pleading for a higher power's blessing. "No. You're one of the best at this."

"Correct. Potter, it has been decided by the Headmaster that you will need extensive preparation for the forthcoming year. He plans to conduct singular classes with you to improve your knowledge on what is to come."

Harry gaped. For a second, the words simply made no sense.

"Wait, singular classes? Dumbledore's going to teach me?"

" _Professor_ Dumbledore had seen it fit –"

"Why couldn't he tell me this himself?"

"Harry." Sirius said, guiding him to the table. Harry pulled out a chair for him to sit, facing Snape. Sirius sat next to him. "Dumbledore's been very busy. You've seen the papers. You'll meet him later during the meeting."

"Are you doing this because I didn't want to talk to Mantis?" Harry asked hurriedly. Sirius looked a little surprised.

"Of course not. Harry, that was your decision and I won't force you on it. But this is directly vital and I really think Occlumency lessons will be very helpful."

Harry looked back at Snape. "Why does it have to be with him?"

"Your subtlety in accusations are commendable, Potter." Snape drawled. "Do you plan on baffling me for the entire term?"

"Don't make me regret this, Snape." Sirius warned. "I'm agreeing only because you are the best option we have for now."

"It must have killed you to consider me."

Harry saw a muscle twitch in Sirius' neck. He knew that the two of them had less than civil interactions at school. He also knew that Sirius had once _pranked_ Snape and nearly got him killed. Snape may have loathed James, but he was dead and Sirius was not.

"So, you're teaching me Occlumency?" Harry jumped in, feeling goosebumps on his arms.

Snape turned back to him. "Yes. On the second of September, eight o'clock sharp, we will have our first session where I will lay out the groundwork for the rest of the classes. No one must know of the reason and we will spend exactly one and a half hours to reiterate the basics and test them."

"Eight o'clock is dinner time." Sirius stated.

"He can have a light meal at seven. The second is a Sunday."

Sirius leaned forwards. He suddenly lost all humour and grace. "You'd best remember that if Harry suffers anymore from under your tutelage, I'll drop by the castle for a little visit, Snivellus."

Snape's entire body went rigid at the last word. "Haven't found any new insults? I guess an old dog cannot learn new tricks."

"I don't have to because the old ones work just fine."

Harry angled back. He could feel the energy in the room along with the growing tension. He thought he heard a noise from the hall but the door muted it and he had no choice but to be subjected to the scene in front of him. "Um... what about my lessons with Dumbledore?"

No one answered for a tense moment but then Snape said, "Dumbledore's schedule has to overcompensate for your sessions but they will take place. Expect the first meeting to happen sometime around the middle of the month."

Harry tried not to make any sudden movements. Sirius and Snape were still glaring at each other and he felt very much caught in between. All his instincts were screaming at him to get away from the confrontation.

"I gather that you were unsuccessful from your meeting with Umbridge?" Snape's question confused Harry. Sirius clenched his fists.

"That's none of your business."

"It will be if the Order gets dragged into it. You've never been discreet, Black."

"And you could never keep your nose out of other people's affairs."

"At the very least, I am still able to keep a cool eye on my godson."

Sirius seemed to have exploded. His wand was out within a millisecond and Harry ducked down from his chair as Snape too withdrew his wand. There was a bang and the house seemed to rock, but it was only Harry's sense of equilibrium. The noise shocked his ear drums and struck him disoriented for several seconds.

The door flew open and a horde of people burst into the room.

Harry kept his eyes shut, hands tight over his ears, face tucked on his knees. He stayed that was till the inside of his eyelids brightened. He opened his eyes.

Percy and Sally were looking at him in concern. He was under the table and Percy lifted the tablecloth for him to crawl out.

"Really, Sirius?" Molly reproached him. Harry stumbled to his feet. The kitchen looked normal, but there was an ugly burn mark on the tale and he could smell smoke in the air.

"Oh my god." Someone whispered. Harry looked up at the doorway were at least ten people had to be standing. He recognized everyone except for two of them, who stood on the top step, right at the entrance. He guessed they were a couple. They stood close to each other, with expressions of shock on their fatigued faces. They were grey haired, but still had a young parlour despite the physical exhaustion, similar to Sirius.

The woman was short, almost as short as Molly. She had short hair and her round face was so stark in resemblance to Neville that Harry was speechless. The man next to her was tall and lanky, not as tall as Ron, though. His gaunt face had slightly sunken cheeks but his eyes glistened in happiness which made up for everything.

The woman stepped forward and pulled Harry into a tight embrace, bursting into tears.

Harry knew who it was. Neville was there too, standing next to his father and DJ. He'd never seen Neville look so complete. The constant feeling of _lost_ that had usually accompanied him was gone.

Alice Longbottom looked at him. Her eyes and cheeks were wet. "Harry, you look just like them. You're so beautiful!" She hugged him again.

* * *

 **Okay, hopefully, I can finish the Grimmauld segment by next chapter. Stay tuned!**

 **Q: Who is Grandma Zhang based on?**

 **Cabba.**


	5. Full House

**A: Grandma Zhang is based on Augusta Longbottom!**

 **Listening to – The Wolf And The Moon by BrunuhVille**

* * *

With Crookshanks weaving in and out through their legs, under the table, the large group of people sat together to have an early supper. Percy kept looking towards Nico, wondering if he felt nervous. He must have. They were about to reveal the existence of demigods to the Order.

Albus Dumbledore sat beside Sirius and Molly looking, for all the world, quite jovial. But his face was aged by ten years compared to when Percy had last seen him. He must have been really busy, starting from the entire Triwizard tournament, last year, up until now.

His silver beard was wispy and shone less, his clothes were wrinkled, his half moon glasses were smudged from repeated wiping and Percy was quite sure that he smelled, although that might have been Crookshanks.

After a hefty meal of Beef Wellington, roasted aubergine and shepherd's pie, courtesy of Mrs. Weasley and Harry, the group sat back in their chairs, relaxing in the warm and sleepy atmosphere. Percy felt food dancing in his stomach as he gripped the edge of the table, looking at Nico and Sally, waiting for the cue.

Sirius cleared his throat. Percy jumped.

"Well, that was delicious, Molly." He told her. Harry raised his eyebrows and Sirius grinned. "Yes, thank you, Harry. The aubergine was excellent."

"And we are still sitting because…?" George asked.

"We have an announcement." Sirius said. Everyone suddenly looked at Sally who stared back, startled from the sudden onslaught.

"Not… not that kind of announcement." Sally said quickly, pushing an elbow into Sirius' side. He choked.

"Is it more good news?" Ron asked. Hermione, who had been sitting stiffly, staring at Percy, widened her eyes.

"It's… different. Neither good nor bad, but again, that depends on perspective."

"Then get on with it. Some of us have places to be." Snape muttered from across the table.

Before Sirius could snap back, Percy raised his voice. "Okay! So, I guess you're all wondering why me… my mom and Nico are here…"

He gestured to the mentioned people. Feeling nervous under the stares of twenty one pairs of eyes, he continued, "We're not wizards. Or witch."

A few didn't look surprised by the admission. Dumbledore, Snape, Mrs. Weasley and Ginny simply continued to watch him while the others, excluding the ones who already knew, frowned in confusion.

"I'm a muggle." Sally said. She gave a little wave as everyone turned their attention back to her. "I'm just accompanying my son and nephew."

"Then what are you doing here?" Mad Eye asked, brusquely.

"They're about to explain. Don't interrupt." Tonks said, patting his arm.

Percy inhaled to gather strength. "Have you heard of Greek gods? Mythology? Epics? Monsters?"

He said each term slowly to let it sink in. Alice and Frank shrugged, Neville and Ron still looked confused. Everyone had their own range of subtle reactions from the questions.

"Okay, like, here's the deal." Percy put his hands out, moving them as he spoke. "Just like you guys have your secret of having magic and being witches and wizards, there are others in the world with their own secrets. And Nico and I are part of a world like that."

This was the best way for him to explain the situation carefully. DJ gave him a nod and he proceeded. "So, um… the thing with the gods –"

"No way!" George exclaimed. Fred was leaning forwards with the same, shocked expression as his twin. "Are you saying…? That you… and you…" He pointed at Percy and then at Nico.

Percy nearly relaxed. Was it that easy to get the point across to them? Fred and George seemed to have understood the fastest.

"You're _gods_?!" Fred asked in an excited whisper.

Harry coughed, turning away and hiding his face. Sally raised an eyebrow and Percy Weasley folded his arms and told Fred. "What? How could you jump straight up to _gods_?"

Nico gave them a shrug. "It sounds ridiculous, but they're half way there. Or rather they overshot and fell double the distance."

Tonks, Remus and Harry were laughing so hard their bodies shook. Sirius leaned his face on his palm as subtly as possible. DJ sighed.

"What Nico means, is that we're half gods." Percy explained, loudly.

Alice giggled. "Good one."

Sirius looked up. "Sorry Alice. But he's telling the truth."

Her smile faded. Suddenly, the atmosphere at the table was tense. Percy waited for a few seconds before saying, "Nico and I are demigods. Both our fathers are Olympians –"

"Bull." Fred said.

For some strange reason, there was no thunder or earthquake in retaliation to the insult. Percy and Nico frowned and Harry looked up. "Huh. That should have gotten a reaction."

"May be it's because we're across the ocean?" DJ suggested.

"May be."

"I told you, Albus." Snape said to the Headmaster. Dumbledore simply looked around at the demigods and nodded. "So you did, Severus. Quite not wizards."

Arthur Weasley turned to him. "You believe them?"

Dumbledore seemed placid. "Would they have any reason to lie?"

And just like that, the whole thing was done with. Apparently, everyone believed what Dumbledore believed and that was the truth. Percy did some tricks with his tumbler of water and Nico played with the shadows around the room till everyone finally understood it.

"Wait, so you…" Alice pointed at Sally. "Shagged a god?"

There was a second of silence which was followed by a very red faced Neville yelling, "Mum!"

"Er, yes." Sally looked like she was biting the inside of her cheek to stop from smiling.

"Oh. How was it?"

"MUM!"

"Oh, honey, it was a joke."

"Pretty good."

"Mom!"

"Pepe, I'm joking back."

Percy cringed and then reached around Nico to smack Harry's head. He was still laughing at the conversation.

"Greek gods." Molly whispered, looking rather faint. Arthur put an arm around her shoulders. Mad Eye was so stunned that he simply stared at the wall, his electric blue eye as frozen as his normal one. He gave a shudder and raised his hip flask to take a long swig from it.

Snape frowned at his plate, closing his eyes and then opening them as thought to physically ingest the information. Ron kept shaking his head while Fred and George were taking turns to look at Percy and Nico. Ginny didn't bother; simply finishing her water like it was an ordinary night.

"Does this have something to do with the incident in Rome?" Mad Eye asked, suddenly. The table fell into a lull. Harry froze and Percy's hands clenched into fists under the table.

"Wait. What really happened there?" Ron asked, turning to look at Harry. "You never told us."

Harry had such a strange expression on his face that Percy himself felt confused. Then he realized that Harry looked like a deer in the headlights. His eyes were wide and his hands were shaking. Percy saw a single bead of sweat slide from under his hairline down the side of his face.

Before he could run, Sirius stood up. "We can talk about that later. But yes, it has something to do with it. Right now, the kids can go to their rooms."

Percy had barely blinked when Harry had left his seat and run out the kitchen.

Hermione slapped Ron's arm. "Don't ask him that!"

"Ow! How was I supposed to know not to?"

"He was _kidnapped_. I'm sure it wasn't a pleasant experience!"

They argued on the way out. Fred and George sat until their parents shooed them out. Percy Weasley was still stunned, sitting quite frozen in his chair. Neville followed the twins and DJ left with him. Percy looked around wondering if he was supposed to stay.

"You two can go." Sally said, looking at Nico and him. "Get some sleep, you have a busy day tomorrow."

Percy and Nico shot up from their chairs in tandem and rushed up. They took the stairs three at a time till they reached the third floor which was already crowded with a large number of teenagers. The house really was packed with entertainment.

Harry was addressing the gathering. "Yes, I was kidnapped. No, it wasn't nice. And don't ask me anything else about it. Don't even say the name."

"What? Don't say Ro –"

"Yes, don't say that." He said irritably to Ron. He slammed the door to his room.

Fred and George looked down at their brother. "Nice going, git. Tomorrow's going to be a lovely day."

Ginny looked at Hermione. "You already knew, didn't you?"

"About the demigod part?" Hermione looked at Percy. "Yes. Not the… Italy thing."

DJ looked around. "Are we calling it Italy now?"

"Rome is in Italy." Neville said.

Nico craned his neck and walked up to the closed door, giving it a knock. "Harry? I have to sleep in there tonight. And for the next two weeks too."

"So, son of Poseidon, eh?" One of the twins asked casually. Percy tried not to frown. He gave them a big smile and said, "Yup. That's my dad. Real character of good sportsmanship, he is."

"I'm just curious as to how Dumbledore wasn't surprised at all. Snape, as well." Hermione muttered.

"Are you yanking?" Ron asked. "He's Dumbledore."

"The Snape thing might be my fault." Percy said slowly, thinking back to the epic showdown at the graveyard, three months ago. Gods, was it so long? He could still remember it clearly like it was yesterday.

Hermione looked at him curiously, but Percy gave a yawn and said, "Well. I'll see you tomorrow. Good night."

"That's it?" George asked, incredulously. "No explanations. Just, 'I'm a demigod. And so is my cousin. Good night'?"

"Yup." Percy said cheerfully. "And remember to lock your doors at night. Kreacher likes to walk around and watch people in their sleep, apparently."

* * *

The heart beat hit his ears so loudly that Percy nearly yelped, rolled and fell off his bed. Luckily, the sheets around him softened the fall by a fraction. Percy sat up pressing on his shoulder that had hit the floor. He lifted his arm and rotated it.

It was still dark. Percy blinked, feeling more sleepy than irritated. He looked around for a clock and spotted it on DJ nightstand. It was two in the morning.

Great. Percy closed his eyes and leaned against the bed, knowing that he could easily fall asleep sitting up. But then the sound echoed through the house again. _Lub-dub, lub-dub._

Now, he was irritated. Really, all he wanted was to sleep and the house decides that it was the perfect time to be haunted? Percy grabbed Riptide and stood up, stretching his limbs and back before heading for the door. DJ made no move to wake up and Percy decided let him be.

He opened the door and trudged down the stairs. The house was almost spooky in the silent night, but he wasn't afraid. He'd faced worse things than a weird heartbeat.

Percy reached the ground floor and was about to head for the basement when he heard the sound again.

It was louder. Each beat tugged at his chest. It sounded almost metallic. It wasn't coming from the basement, but rather from the kitchen.

Percy gave a mental shrug before turning around and opening the kitchen door. It was so dark he thought he saw shapes form in the shadows. He flicked the light on and looked around.

There was nothing out of the ordinary. Percy looked at the long table, neat and empty. The platform too was clear and all the dishes were in their respective pockets around the room.

The sound was the loudest here. Percy tiptoed into the room. His sword was a pen, currently, but at any new movement, he was ready to attack.

"Muggle demigod sneaking around the house."

Percy jumped, clicking his pen. It turned into a sword and Percy swung it low. Kreacher had been standing right behind him, but had the sense to poof into thin air, narrowly avoiding the blade from decapitating him.

"Oh gods!" Percy gasped. "Jeez, Kreacher. Don't ever _do_ that!"

Kreacher appeared on the table, standing across the room. His watery eyes were as large as baseballs. "Demigod has a sword."

Percy groaned. "Yes. Demigod has a sword. Demigod does not like to be sneaked up on. Demigod has crazy sword swinging instincts."

"Demigod heard the sound."

Percy lowered Riptide. "Kreacher, did you make that sound?"

"Yes."

He raised an eyebrow. "The drums?"

"Yes."

"Then I'm talking about something else." He said. He had a feeling that Kreacher had somehow evaded Sirius's questions. "Did you make the sound of a heart?"

"Yes."

He could be lying. Percy frowned and looked around the kitchen. The sound was gone, but he knew it was from somewhere low and out of sight…

Percy stared at the corner where a small and old curtain hung, covering the portion beside the drawers. He marched forwards and pulled the curtain back. The smell of dust and stale food enveloped him.

"Demigod is a bad, bad boy!" Kreacher suddenly shrieked. "Go!"

"Go where? Inside? Okay!" Percy ducked in, kneeling on the floor to fit inside. Suddenly, he realized that he'd intruded upon Kreacher's room. He saw a mound of old sheets, that could pass for a bed. Beside it there were a lot of old trinkets like goblets and even jewellery, peeking out from behind the sheets.

Percy felt bad. He was intruding upon the elf's space. He turned around to leave, when Kreacher appeared, standing so close their faces practically brushed. Percy jumped again, head smacking on the low ceiling which was the marble counter of the kitchen platform.

That would bruise. He was sure to have a bump. Percy clutched his head and groaned.

To make matters worse, the heart beat started again. Percy scrambled away, head aching and ears throbbing from the viciousness of the intensity.

"Demigod can hear the heart." Kreacher said, almost in awe. His tiny wrinkled body was stooped from age, but the excitement in his face was disturbing.

"No. Nope. Demigod can't hear anything. Demigod is leaving."

"Demigod take the heart."

Percy let out a long sigh. So, it was a heart. Had it been any other time, he would have felt suitably horrified, but now all he wanted was to stop the sound and go to sleep. "Why should I take the heart?"

"Master Regulus will be cross with Kreacher, but Kreacher must." The house elf muttered.

Percy sat up, massaging his head. If he did get whatever was making the sound, he could give it to Sirius and then, get a proper night's sleep.

"You know Kreacher, you're right. I'll take the sou - heart." Percy clicked Riptide, rendering it harmless and pocketed it.

The house elf looked deranged. "Yes! Yes, demigod take the heart. Demigod help Kreacher!"

"Sure." He said slowly, wondering if Sirius was right about Kreacher being completely nuts.

Kreacher jumped on top of the pile of sheets, rummaging through it frantically before handing a small ornate box to Percy. It was heavy, made of silver metal and covered with dirt, with the Black coat of arms embossed on it. Percy read the words 'Toujours Pur'.

From within, he could feel the heart beating madly.

* * *

The days went by fast. Harry felt that it was the best vacation he'd had in a long time. The house was always crowded, noise erupting from somewhere or the other. The desolate corners were warmer and the grimy corridors were brighter. There were enough people, his own age, who knew so much about everything they needed to know. It was good to not keep so many secrets. His mind felt clearer with the healthy company, good food and heavenly nights of deep sleep (enabled by the sleeping potions, of course.)

He'd have to stop the potions a week after term started. He was dreading that, but had no choice but to work himself off of the dosage slowly. Sirius and Remus had offered to set up a schedule, so now, Harry would be having the potion every other night, till the last week.

Until then, Harry had his hands full with the day's work. They had to clean the house, top to bottom if they had to continue living in it for the next few years, or however long the war lasted.

Speaking of which, the UK's latest meeting with the International Confederation of Wizards was the heated topic of headlines. There were rumours of rousing Death Eater ranks in Albania and Bulgaria, both of which were decidedly bad news because the Order had confirmed the rumours. Harry knew it was only a matter of time when Voldemort would actually return to Britain.

Hedwig gave a soft hoot, startling Harry out of his thoughts. He was up in Sirius' father's office, sifting through the books at the large writing desk. He was supposed to check for an early edition of an Occlumency book that Sirius swore up and down was in the safe office and not the other dangerous places such as the attic or the hall.

"I'm not zoning out." Harry told his owl. Hedwig just gave him a haughty look. Harry arched his eyebrows and shot a similar look back to her. She hooted again, raising her wing and putting it over her head. Then she looked at him again. She had just face-winged at him.

He smiled, shaking his head. He picked up a book from the practically teetering pile of tomes beside him. _Lupine Lawlessness: Why Lycanthropes Don't Deserve To Live_ by Emerett Picardy. He grimaced at the title and threw the book over his shoulder where it landed on the Useless pile.

Hedwig ruffled her wings in alarm at his force. "Sorry, girl. Some books are just harmful." He apologized.

There was a creak of a floorboard. Harry had just looked up when Ginny walked in, carrying a cardboard box full of even more books that they must have found in the basement. He felt his face want to frown at her abrupt entrance.

"Safe." She said, patting at the books after she dropped it with a heavy thud that rattled the desk.

"Thanks." He told her. She'd just turned to leave when she stopped and stared at him. He caught her looking at his forhead. He automatically raised his hand to flatten his hair over his scar.

"What?" He asked bluntly.

Ginny blinked. It was strange seeing her so close. They'd spent the first week at more than an arm's distance. Sometimes, he could feel the air around her heat up when they stood too close. But at the moment, it was calm and lazy. She looked confused.

"You…" She mumbled, frowning a little. Then she blinked and said, "Never mind."

"No, what is it?"

He turned around in his chair to look at her fully. She'd cut her hair again. It was as short as Ron's, but great tufts of it rose over her head like it was light and fluffy. The bright red-orange strands framed her face in a small hallow, partially covering her ears but leaving her face free. She seemed different, somehow. As compared to last year, she seemed quieter, but more confident and …fun. At least, Nico said she was fun. She always played Mythomagic with him after supper.

Ginny pointed at his head. "Your scar."

"What about it?"

She finally looked at him. Harry really had never noticed how many freckles she had over her upper cheeks. He felt like he could count them if they were closer.

"It's faint. I thought, for a sec, that it wasn't there."

Harry was staring at her eye lashes and almost didn't hear what she said. "Huh?"

"Your scar –"

Harry got up so suddenly that she jumped back. He reached for his mobile phone. Its sleek black screen was a dull mirror, but the room was bright enough. Harry pushed his hair out of the way and stared.

He had to look again. Ginny was right. The scar, that had once been prominent in its jagged cut, was softer now. It was paler. He touched it. He could feel the raised skin, but barely. He had to run his fingers over the space again to really feel where it was.

He didn't know why his fingers were shaking. He felt a cold sweat gather on his neck and palms. He put the phone on the desk, staring down like an answer would pop out of it.

"It looks like it's healing." Ginny's voice got through his cotton filled head. It startled him.

"You think so?" He asked slowly.

"Yeah…" She frowned at him. "You're different, you know."

He kept touching his scar. "What makes you think that?"

Ginny pressed her lips together, not saying anything till she muttered, "You're… happier."

The room was deathly silent except for his heart which pounded against his chest, making his ribs hurt. Until she'd actually said it, he hadn't really seen it like that. Was he happier? He wasn't sure about that. He just knew that it was good to stay in a full house. It was the complete opposite of staying at the Dursleys where loneliness was a way of life.

He didn't say anything. His index and middle finger kept pressing at his scar. Ginny made an awkward move. She leaned away, swung her arm, looking oddly cute. Then she spun in place and left the room, like nothing had happened.

Hedwig's soft chirping made him look at her. Then he sat down and started looking through the new set of books.

* * *

The day their owls for the new term arrive, Harry had hoped that they'd be able to go to Diagon Alley. But Sirius had vetoed the idea, saying that all purchases would be made by the Aurors so that he wouldn't have to step out. The kids had groaned when they realized that they'd be stuck in the house till end of August, but there were things to be occupied with.

For one, Hermione and Ron were made prefects.

It was no surprise with Hermione, but it was a task to hide the astonishment directed towards Ron. Harry knew that a few were staring at him, but said nothing.

"That sounds like a lot of work." Percy said, tossing the Prefect badge into the air. Ron reached forwards to snatch it back.

"Tell me about it. Hermione would keep harping on me for the next three years on Prefect duties. Not to mention what the twins would do. They've been taking the mickey out of me since morning." Ron said dolefully, dropping back onto his bed. Harry patted his shoulder, sympathetically. The four boys were in Ron and Neville's room, taking a break from the evening work.

Neville, who was reading up a book he'd gotten from his parents, to help take care of a Mimblus Mimbletonia, (it looked like a cactus to Harry, and felt far more devious in his head), said, "My dad was prefect. He said that the bathrooms for you guys were the best."

Percy spread his arms. "See? There's the silver lining."

Crookshanks gave a lazy _meow_ as though in agreement. He was perched beside Percy, pawing at his hair. Harry looked around and spotted Hedwig, who had wandered to rest on the window sill. Her outdoor flying was restricted in London because white owls were very easy to identify. Harry hadn't wanted anyone to spot or harm her. He looked back at Ron who still looked troubled.

Harry, wishing to change the conversation topic, finally pointed at the strange plant. "So, Nev, have you figured out what its secret abilities are?"

"Shouldn't you know, plant boy?" Percy asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't know everything. Plus, it's shutting me out. I think it likes Neville."

Neville looked up. "Really?"

Harry shrugged, leaning back. "That's my guess. It's waiting for you to talk to it."

"Oh!" Neville set the book down and stared at the plant. Then he said, "Hi."

The cactus did nothing. Its numerous boils pulsed slightly and had Harry not have a love for plants, he would have called it revolting. Ron frowned. "Try introducing yourself."

"The book says that active interaction would help relate to the environment." Neville said, looking back at the chapter he was thumbing through.

"Is it possible for anything to relate to this environment?" Harry muttered. The house was better, but he'd rather go back to Frost.

Neville didn't answer. Instead, he drew out his wand. "The plant is from Assyria. It's not very conducive to Britain's climate. I'll have to change the temperature, maybe then it will respond."

Before Harry could warn him, Neville pointed his wand at the little plant. It shuddered as though it were recoiling from the weapon and all of its boils burst, spewing green, stinking liquid into the room and on its occupants.

Crookshanks let out an angered hiss, diving under the bed and Hedwig hooted widely, ducking behind Harry's body just in time. Everyone and everything else was splattered in the goo.

The plant let out a low whine and went still. Harry coughed, spitting out a mouthful of the liquid. It tasted about the same as it smelt.

"Neville?" Percy asked. He shook his head to get rid of the mess in vain. "Please, never do that again."

The door swung open and Hermione and Ginny stopped at the entrance, staring at the incredible mess.

"Don't." Ron warned them. But Ginny had already started to laugh, clutching her torso. Hermione bit her lip to hold on to some form of decency.

"It wasn't supposed to do that." Neville mumbled, rubbing his face to clean his skin. Harry stared at Ginny. She had recovered from her fit of laughter but was still giggling.

"Oh Crookshanks, clever boy." Hermione cooed, bending down to pick up her kneazle, who had emerged from below the bed. "You didn't get hit at all!"

"And neither did Hedwig." Ginny noted, grinning madly at Harry. He was about to use his sleeve to wipe the goop off.

"You would definitely need soap to get rid of this. As for the room..." Hermione looked around at the range of the stink sap explosion.

"Oh relax. We can clean this up in a second." Ginny said, offhandedly. She pulled her wand from her pocket and gave it a small flick, " _Scourgify_."

The muck vanished, leaving the room as it was before. Percy blinked, looking down at his clothes. "Wow."

"Ginny, we're not supposed to use magic!" Hermione said.

"You're right." She nodded. "We should have watched them take a few hours to clean up themselves and the room. It's not like we're doing any work here."

Harry smiled at that. Hermione exhaled, but didn't comment. She looked back at Neville. "Do you even know what to do with the plant?"

"My great uncle Algie got it for me, just before we came here." Neville protested weakly. "I was going to see if I could breed it. It's pretty rare. I'll get Professor Sprout to help."

"To bad she's not in the Order. We could have seen her in muggle clothes." Ron said, relaxing now that he was clean. "I thought you're supposed to be minding the shelves in the library. What are you doing here?"

Hermione tilted her head, unimpressed. "Shelves are done. Library is now as free as the restricted section at Hogwarts. Most of the books in there are all about illegal magic. Sirius looked like he wanted to burn down the place, but Prof – Mad Eye said that access to that knowledge would be limited. We're lucky to have it, so they put border charm over the place. Only Order members can go in."

"Dull." Harry said.

"This might cheer you up then." Ginny said. "We're nearly finished with the cellar. We found an organ. It seems to be working. No one's tried it yet, but it doesn't look broken."

"An organ?" Percy sat up so fast that Neville flinched. "A real live organ!"

"Yup." Ginny nodded. There was a glint in her eye. "A red beating one."

Harry and Percy froze. They looked at each other. Harry felt a little alarmed, but Percy looked horrified. Before he could ask, Neville said, "A … what? A beating… organ?"

Hermione saw Percy's strange reaction, but said, "The musical instrument. Not the heart. Besides, (she gave Ginny a side eyed look) the heart is a muscle."

The silence grew and it felt awkward. Harry saw Percy calm himself and then get up, looking very cheery. He wondered if Percy had heard the beating heart. After the Weasleys started living in Grimmauld Place, the sound never came. At least, not to Harry or Nico.

"Let's have a look at it!" Percy announced happily, before rushing out of the room. Harry saw the others look startled for a second before following him down the stairs. Harry looked back, where Hedwig was preening her feathers. "Wanna come with?"

She gave him a look as if to say, 'Are you out of your human mind? I'm staying out of the cellar.'

"It's not haunted."

'Still, no.'

Harry stood up, gave her a sanguine look before leaving. He walked down at his leisured pace and just reached the ground floor when a loud and deep blow horn of sorts echoed through the house. He immediately looked towards the cold corridor where all the sleeping portraits hung. None of them woke up, thankfully.

In the basement, Percy stood in front of the organ. It was smaller than Harry had pictured. The tall cupboard sized instrument was pushed against the back wall, so it wasn't easy to see from just peeking into the room. Alice, Tonks, DJ, Nico, Hermione, Ginny, Ron and Neville stood behind him watching him try the sounds. Percy frowned at the aged keys and pressed one of them. The new sound was higher in pitch, as though the pipes or strings were used to their breaking point.

"I thought you could play the piano." DJ asked, folding his arms. Percy rolled his eyes. "It's not the same thing. Organs need a wider bass knowledge range. It's different for different types. This isn't even electrical, it's older and is piped from what it sounds like. I've never played on one before."

The others looked surprised. Percy saw that and turned back to the organ. Harry tried not to frown. People always looked surprised when Percy said something smart.

The basement was devoid of rank smelling creatures, so it was a light and airy atmosphere for Percy to try simple notes on the organ. The door opened again and Sirius and Sally peered in.

"Is that alright?" Sally whispered. "He likes playing –"

"It's fine." Sirius said, looking at the instrument. "He's good. It's much better than what my mother used to play."

Tonks turned around. "I think anything can sound good if you know how to play it."

"It depends on what you play." Sirius muttered. "Dear mum loved playing funeral songs on the blasted thing."

"Oh. Well, that's still –"

"On my birthday."

Tonks blinked and then shook her head. "She sounds like a real piece of work."

Harry saw Sally take Sirius' hand. He squeezed her palms, looking grateful. Percy tried to play Nocturne, but the instrument gave out half way, pipes sending coarse tunes that seemed to burn Harry's ears.

* * *

 **So sorry for the delay! Don't give up, everyone, stay tuned!**

 **Q: How did Sirius die?**

 **Cabba.**


	6. Riddle Me This

**A: Sirius died by falling through the veil of death. He was (possibly) stunned by Bellatrix Lestrange.**

 **Listening to – It's My Life by Bon Jovi**

* * *

Percy stood close enough to the vapour window so that Annabeth couldn't see what was behind him.

"Guess what?" He told her. His grin was contagious. Annabeth giggled, rather uncharacteristically. He thought she looked far out of his league when she did that.

"What?" She asked.

"Nah uh. You've gotta guess."

"C'mon, give me a clue."

Percy flashed his teeth, waggling his eyebrows. Maybe he was trying to impress her or flirt with her, but all she did was giggle again.

"You look silly, Seaweed Brain. What's got you so happy?"

His head slumped down for a second before he moved to the side so she could see clearly through the Iris message. He was in the basement, standing in front of the large organ which he knew proudly displayed to her.

"It's a chamber organ! Pretty neat, eh?"

He patted the red wood and ran his fingers over the keys, playing the first line of 'Joy to the world.' Annabeth rolled her eyes, but looked interested, nonetheless. "Pretty neat. Can you play?"

"You know I can."

"You're good with the piano. This is an organ. There's a difference."

"Yeah, but I've been practicing. Listen to this."

He sat down in front of the ivories and belted out a sweet little tune that sounded holy as organ music always did. Percy gave Annabeth a side eyed look and she smiled, propping her head up on one hand.

Though it was nearly ten in the morning on the first of September in London, Annabeth was still awake in San Francisco where it was two hours past midnight. She'd called him while he was fiddling with the box Kreacher had thrust upon him. The dark circles under her eyes got him worried and he spent a whole twenty minutes trying to cheer her up by regaling tales with witches and wizards. It worked. Annabeth was thoroughly impressed and exasperated.

"I miss you." Annabeth said, her eyes drooping. Percy stopped playing and leaned in to watch the IM closer.

"I miss you too. This long distance relationship isn't getting any easier."

His face felt hot at that. Every time he thought of them in a _relationship_ …

Annabeth looked up at him. "Regretting, already?"

"What! No, I was just… I wish you were here."

She smiled lazily. "I know how you feel. I miss kissing you."

She outright burst out laughing when Percy's face turned completely red. He cleared his throat, feeling something stuck in it and raised a hand to touch one of his ears, which were burning as well.

"Yeah… I miss that… too…"

Annabeth winked. "You are adorable, Percy. When does Goode start?"

Partially glad for the change of topic, Percy said, "On Monday, of course. Same as you. Today and tomorrow are my last days of happiness before high school."

He shook his head. He was beginning high school. To most teenagers, that felt like a whole new era, but Percy felt like it was the start of a long journey to the depths of the underworld.

"I welcome it, though." Annabeth said, rolling onto her back. She was on her bed, looking at the IM upside down. Percy caught the glint of the grey streak in her hair as it flopped about on the mattress.

"Of course, you'd like school, Wise Girl."

She grinned, heaving her shoulders down and then up. Percy didn't say anything else, opting to simply stare at her. Gradually, her eyes fluttered close and her breathing slowed. Her entire body relaxed and she simply slumped down on the bed.

"Good night." Percy mouthed, not wanting to wake her up. He was about to cut the call when a whisper from behind startled him.

"You're being a creep, Percy." Harry said in a low voice, sounding like a creep himself. "Staring at a girl when she's asleep, tut tut."

"You…" Percy grumbled, swiping his hand through the IM mist. "She just fell asleep."

"Oh. So, I guess you're just boring and not a creep. Much better, if you ask me."

"No one asked you." Percy said pointedly. "Aren't you supposed to be packing?"

Harry slipped his hands into his pockets. "All done. What about you?"

"I have two days to go." Percy said, getting up to walk around him. He spotted the metal box that he'd put on top of the closest shelf, but made no move to reach for it. "You have to leave in half an hour, right?"

"Right. And none of us has eaten yet. It's going to get hectic." Harry said, heading for the stairs. Percy hesitated for a second before following him out of the basement.

"What's for brunch?"

"Tea and chips."

Percy shook his head. "That's a departure from the regular meal of chips and tea. Tell me; is it true that Hogwarts students can't eat anything on the train till you reach the castle?"

"What?" Harry laughed. "That's daft. Can you imagine teenagers going hungry for nine hours?"

"DJ…" Percy muttered. Harry kept grinning as they reached the ground floor. Just then, there was a loud yell of pain before a huge ruckus of large and heavy objects tumbled down the stairs. Harry and Percy flinched backwards when they saw Ginny and a huge trunk fall all the way from the second floor.

Harry swore. He lunged forwards, caught Ginny's prone body and heaved her away before the trunk could crush her. Percy dragged them backwards, away from the stairs.

"Ginny?" Harry called, carefully straightening her bruised form on the floor. Her head was cut and she looked banged up. But her eyes blinked open.

Percy yelped. Her eyes were burning amber as though they were filled with literal fire. He saw Harry wince and yank his hands away from her arms, where he'd been holding her. Steam rose from her body as though she was about to burst into flames.

"Holy…!" Someone cursed from upstairs. Percy saw George and Fred rush down the stairs, looking pale. "Ginny! We're so sorry -"

Ginny groaned. "I'm …gonna kill …you."

The kitchen door swung open and Alice, Sirius and Neville walked out, stopping to stare at the sight.

"Ginny!" Alice cried, immediately rushing over. "Oh dear, Sirius, do you –"

"I'll get the meds." He said, running back into the kitchen. Alice nodded and dropped down next to Percy. "Ginny, sweetie. Tell me what hurts."

"My pride."

Fred gave a weak chuckle. Neville looked at him. "Wait till your mum finds out."

Molly Weasley wasted no time in helping Sirius heal up her daughter, following which she started shriek at the twins so viciously and all the owls flew out of the room and back up the stairs.

Percy and Nico weren't allowed to see the witches and wizards off at King's Cross. They said their goodbyes and watched as the party left the house in two large cars, specially rented from the Ministry for the occasion. Along with Sally, Tonks and a small time crook named, Mundungus Fletcher, the boys lounged about the house, not doing much. The place already looked gloomier with sudden drop in teenager statistics.

"So, you boys all set for school? Everything packed? Homework, done?" Sally asked, shutting her laptop. She'd been working on it since early morning, finishing up a draft for a new book. Since Grimmauld Place had no electrical sockets or even electricity, she would have to go back to New York or Frost to charge up the PC and her phone.

"Yup." Nico answered, dealing out the Mythomagic cards for Percy.

"Nope." Percy said, picking up his set of cards. His mother raised an eyebrow and he explained. "Technically, I didn't have any holiday homework, so all I have to do is put an empty notebook and a pen in my bag and I'm all set."

"Nice tah know that yuah prepared." Dung said seriously. Nico laughed.

"Say… what do they teach you in muggle schools?" Tonks asked, curiously.

"Math, science, history, PE…" Nico rattled. "I can't wait!"

"Good." Sally said, getting up from the couch. "You'll make a lot of new friends, Nico. It will be an amazing experience."

She made it sound like a picnic. Percy knew from his past experience that kids can be the cruelest people ever. It was even worse with teenagers.

But he had to think positive. He would know at least one student in the entire campus, other than Nico. Rachel Elizabeth Dare would be there as well. Though they were in the same year, she had a few AP classes, owing to her home-schooling. At least they'll be able to meet up during lunch.

Even still, an eerie feeling settled in the back of his mind. Like he'd forgotten something important. Percy racked his brain but couldn't point it out. He looked back down at the two cards he held.

One was the god of the dead. He was a tall, dark and muscled figure with grand wings sprouting from his back. The back ground was filled with orange and black clouds. It was pretty amazing art. Percy said, "Thanatos, 750 points to me."

Nico grinned. "I have Hebe. She has 2000 ambrosia and nectar healing points." He placed the card on top of Thanatos'. Percy sighed and tossed his second card.

"Nemesis. 1200 equilibrium holder status."

"That's good." Nico said in surprise. He looked back at his last card. "You can take another from the deck."

Percy slid one towards him and looked at it. There was no depiction of a deity, rather the words on it read, _Tlite of the Prarel._

Percy squinted till the words were clear. "Title of the Player? What's that mean?"

"Ooh! We battle with our names. Okay, I'm Nico di Angelo, so I'm the angel of victory."

Percy chuckled, dropping the card. "I guess you win. 'Cause my name means destruction or something like that. I blame the original Perseus."

"Another round!"

* * *

Harry felt a little lost when Ron and Hermione left for the Prefects' compartment. He wasn't alone, though. DJ, Ginny and Neville led the way and they found a space occupied only by Luna Lovegood and Colin Creevey. They looked up when the four shuffled into the compartment and dropped onto the seats.

"Hello. You have many secrets this year, Harry. I won't ask you." Luna said, her voice seeming to echo in the small space. She was staring at him from over her copy of the Quibbler.

Harry was glad for this bit of weird normalcy. "Thank you Luna. Hey Colin."

"Hi." Colin muttered, going red and slouching in his seat. DJ elbowed him and said, "How were your summers?"

"My aunts came to visit." Colin said, his voice still low. "That was after you left. It was okay."

"Daddy and I had gone trekking in the Himalayas. There's a Tibetan settlement for magic practicing monks and civilians. We couldn't find it though." Luna said. She looked at Ginny. "Did you stay together?"

Ginny frowned. "How did you know?"

"Your eyes." Luna said simply before going back to reading her magazine.

Ginny didn't even look surprised. She simply leaned back and looked at Neville who had to wrestle his toad, Trevor, away from the window before sitting down. Harry nudged Crookshanks and Hedwig away from Neville's Mimblus Mimbletonia which quivered ominously every time someone approached it. Harry had no desire to get drenched in Stinksap again.

They had a relatively quiet ride without interruptions until the door to their compartment slid open and Cho Chang stood at the entrance with her cohort peeking from behind her to stare at Harry. Cho was the only one who faced him head on.

"Hello." Cho said. "It's good to see you guys."

Harry nodded slowly. He couldn't remember when he and Cho had ever spoken. Then again, he couldn't remember a lot of things.

"Hello Cho." Ginny muttered. Luna looked up, suddenly interested.

Cho extended her hand and Harry saw an envelope in regular parchment. It had his name on it in an unfamiliar handwriting. He got up to take it, frowning.

"See you at Hogwarts." Cho chirped and she closed the door, pulling her friends away. Some of them still kept staring at him.

"A riddle, isn't she?" Luna asked.

DJ choked. Colin grinned. Ginny rolled her eyes. "Oh please. Cho's a pretty see-through Seeker who's going to be the first one in her batch to marry to perfect Cedric Diggory."

Luna turned her large eyes on to Ginny. "I don't think Cedric would marry anyone after Cho."

"That's not what I – "

Harry looked at the envelope turning it around in his hands. Hedwig fluttered her feathers, irritated for obvious reasons.

"Sirius did say you were getting a lot of fan mail." DJ muttered.

"When did he say that?"

DJ pressed his lips together. Harry looked back down at the letter. Was it dangerous? It could be. It should have been screened had it been delivered by owl post, but it wasn't. Harry exhaled, deciding to not try his luck. It would be just his luck for the letter to be a bomb and kill them all in another explos –

 _A blast of heat hit him in the face. He'd thrown his hands up, but he still felt like his skin was on fire, like he was on fire. His clothes were melting, his body scorched… he was falling… he broke…_

Harry blinked. His eyes were wide open. The letter was crushed in his hand.

"Harry?" Neville called, nudging him. "Do you want a frog?"

With some difficulty, he turned his head and saw the Candy Lady with her trolley, by the open door. Neville, Colin and Ginny were crowding around her.

Harry opened his mouth. No sound came. It felt like his throat had seized up. His skin tingled.

"He likes the Sugarless Vipers." DJ said, hunting in his wallet for a few sickles.

He couldn't speak, so he nodded. Harry looked back down at the letter. What had happened?

Luna was staring at him. She looked worried. It was an odd expression for her.

His bracelet itched.

* * *

They had no new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Mad Eye sat at the table next to Dumbledore, chewing sullenly, his electric blue eye spinning in all directions. Every so often, they landed on Harry before taking off again.

"How long do you think he'll last?" Harry asked Ron and Hermione. While she looked scandalized by the question, Ron gave a careless shrug.

"It's Mad Eye. Voldemort probably knew where to draw the line or sumwat."

"Honestly. We should be glad that he's still here." Hermione insisted. "We've learnt so much from him last year and I feel safer with another Order member in the castle." She whispered _Order_ so low that Harry and Ron had to strain their ears.

"That's true." Ron said after finishing a chicken leg. "Have you seen Dumbledore? He looks like he's been spread over enough, what with the Ministry, the Order, the Wizengamot, the International whatsis…"

"International Confederation of Wizards." Hermione said promptly.

"S'fot-i-said."

Hermione turned back to Harry. "Not to mention, those special classes –"

"Not here!" Harry said hurriedly, trying not to look around suspiciously.

"Sorry." She looked around too and then leaned in, eyes gleaming. "But you'll tell us, won't you? Everything he teaches you?"

Harry didn't even bother trying to hide a smile. "Of course. I promise."

After dinner, Dumbledore stood up to give them his welcome speech. He smiled kindly at the tiny first years (Ron was right, it was like they got smaller every year.)

"Most of our older students, I am sure, are aware of the situation, but for the rest of us, I will explain it thusly." Dumbledore really did sound tired. But he stood up straight, knuckles long enough to reach the table. His silver hair and beard caught the light at various points and the hall fell silent, listening keenly.

"With advent of recent events, here are the facts: Voldemort has returned. This has been confirmed as of the tenth of June with eye witness accounts and the Ministry's corroboration. The Minister has issued adequate safety measures that were implanted across the country some time ago. I encourage the students to read the papers and learn about what is happening outside the walls of Hogwarts. But I must warn you. It will not be pleasant. The truth rarely is. If anyone has any concerns regarding the new events, you are always free to approach the prefects, Head Girl and Boy, Head of your house or one of the staff members."

He paused for effect which gave the students to whisper to each other. "The most important point to remember is to not fall back on alerting authorities should you fear any mode of trouble. Inform your friends, class mates, teachers, parents… anyone who can help. Standing alone will be of no beneficial cause to anyone, most of all, yourself. One cannot fight on their own."

The moment he said _fight_ the whisperings rose in volume. Harry saw many look around, worried. He also caught several people looking at him, but avoiding his gaze.

"Be alert, be cautious, be safe. Look out for one another. Hogwarts has been deemed the safest structure within the country. Students will not be allowed to cross the borders without due permission. In case of emergencies, the appropriate steps will be undertaken and you will be aided by a member of the staff or by an Auror. As for Hogsmeade visits, it is prudent to not conduct them any longer –"

Groans were heard across the four tables. Harry spotted McGonagall flare her nostrils at Fred and George who pretended to sigh in grief. Angeline and Alicia elbowed them fast in their sides.

"However…" Dumbledore's voice was loud and strong now. "There have been security briefings in the village as well. Once everything has been scoured out, we will contemplate on reopening the visits, as usual only for the third years and above, hopefully but the end of September."

He waved his hands and the doors of the hall flung open slowly, signaling the end of the speech. The students immediately broke into hushed conversations, getting up and leaving. Amidst the ruckus, Hermione and Ron went to sort out the first years while Harry joined Neville, Dean and Seamus, after bidding DJ goodnight.

"Hey." Harry nodded to Dean. Seamus turned and started t talk to Neville.

"Hey, Harry. How've you been?" Dean smiled good-naturedly. He was nearly as tall as Ron now and Harry caught a few girls looking up at him in admiration.

"Oh, you know… the usual. You?"

"No problems. You know the password?"

Neville looked up, excited. "Oh, I know it!"

Harry, Dean and Seamus looked at him, no less incredulous.

"Thanks, guys." Neville huffed.

They made their way up to the tower. Harry urged them to walk faster because he couldn't take all the staring. They reached the portrait of the Fat Lady. (The password was Mimblus Mimbletonia.)

Harry looked at the Common Room in fondness. He'd just realized how much he'd missed Hogwarts after only a few short months. Although, summer wasn't really short.

He nearly missed it when Seamus said that he'd had second thoughts of coming back to Hogwarts.

"What?"

Seamus looked up. They'd reached the fifth year dorms. He'd just pushed up the door. "Me mam thought that it'd be too dangerous."

"Yeah, but… Hogwarts is the safest – "

"She knows that." Seamus shrugged, heading for his trunk. "She just thinks that it'd be safer if we left the UK."

Harry raised his eyebrows. He knew that the Daily Prophet had reported many families packing up and leaving for other European countries. But he hadn't considered that outwardly.

"Oh." He said.

"Yeah. Not ta mention, nobody really knows what happened in the third task."

There was a best of silence. Dean and Neville seemed to have retreated from the open space. Harry simply stood by his four poster. "You've read the reports."

"I did." Seamus looked up at him. "And I believe you. Yeah, you-know-who is out there. We're gonna have to fight. Great."

He threw his pajamas down on the bed. "I'm just sayin', nobody knows what happened that night."

Harry inhaled, thinking it over carefully. It would do no good to yell and hex Seamus, although his hand itched to draw out his wand.

"Yeah, well. If I knew, I wouldn't tell you."

They looked surprised. "What d'you mean, you don't know?" Dean asked.

"I got knocked out –"

"Knocked out!" Neville yelped. "Harry, you were…"

He trailed off, looking terrified of what he'd been about to say.

"I'm sure, it looked… bad…" Harry said slowly.

"It looked pretty bad. You looked dead." Seamus said bluntly. Clearly, he wasn't pulling any punches.

"Wow, Seamus." Harry gave him an unfriendly grin. "That makes loads of sense."

"I'm just sayin' what I saw. We don't know much else."

"Then we're at a dead end." Harry clapped his hands as though the conversation was over. Seamus looked like he wanted to ask more, but Harry turned around and kicked open his trunk, busying himself. After a while, he heard them talk about football.

Neville too turned back to his little plant. Harry stopped digging through his clothes and closed his eyes. None of the articles had expounded on Harry. He and Percy had given their testimonies in front of a private hearing. It took almost two weeks for the verdict to pass. Sirius said that they were lucky that it had been so short. Harry hadn't liked to think about it.

He took off his robes, suddenly remembering the letter in one of his pockets. He pulled it out and stared at it.

 **Harry Potter  
The Fog**

He stared. What kind of an address was that? He racked his brains till something familiar came to mind. The fog that had affected him particularly was during the third task. The fog in the maze had been confusing and misleading, influencing the Champions to go after the cup.

Harry stared at the envelope, before ripping it open. As expected, it was Cedric Diggory's writing.

 _Harry,_

 _I'm sorry I couldn't contact you before you left for the holidays. But I couldn't find much privacy myself for a while. I know I couldn't send you a letter because of all the precautions, but we can relay with her._

Her being Cho, Harry guessed.

 _I'm sorry if this is too suspicious, but I need to talk to you about something important. I can't have people finding out, though. The situation is not how you think it is. We're still in the woods. Talk to her soon and she'll arrange a meeting._

He wasn't sure if he could trust that it was written by Cedric. It could be a ploy to capture him or just kill him. But Cho was a sixth year Ravenclaw who had no affiliations with Death Eaters. Nor did she have anything against Muggleborns. But all he knew about her was that she was the Seeker for her Quidditch team and they'd had minimal contact.

Harry frowned. He didn't like what the letter said about the situation not being what he thought. It made it sound worse. Where things truly bad?

He'd hoped that this year would be different. Yes, there was a fight coming, but everyone knew that Voldemort was on the move. The Ministry was preparing to deal with the new gradually rising chaotic situation it had faced more than a decade ago. Hogwarts had extended its ward reach to cover most of the forest.

The order knew about the demigods. The gods knew how serious the Kronos situation was and had given camp further protection on the barrier. They were prepared for all foes. Harry didn't want to be uninformed. He also realized that he couldn't do this alone. Well, he could, but it was best not to. If he could help it, he would make sure that he let a few others, at least Hermione and Ron, in on everything, because he had other secrets to keep.

* * *

Percy couldn't help it. His nerves were high strung. He needed to get out of the house. He slipped out when Nico was in the library with and Remus and Frank and the others were in the kitchen explaining to Sally about the protection details around the castle. Normally, Percy would have liked to be in the conversation but he couldn't help it. He left the safe house and walked down the street.

The neighbourhood seemed like the most regular and ordinary of places. Mortals and muggles mingled about on their daily routines, children ran on the pavement, skipping rope, playing tag and hopscotch. Percy easily blended in with them, wishing he had his skateboard so he too could be a regular person.

But his skin felt cold despite the strong sun beating down on his. He started to sweat. His neck ached from the contrasts in temperature and he kept running a hand through his hot hair. His legs automatically picked up pace as his heart started to beat faster, for no apparent reason.

There was no water body nearby. Not even a pool. Percy walked till he reached a half occupied playground. The Saturday was lively despite the weather and he sat on the bench, watching toddlers giggle and run about.

He thought of the metal box upstairs in his room. He'd locked the door. Hopefully, everyone would think that he was inside, asleep.

Percy leaned forwards and placed his face in his hands. The bracelet on his left upper arm made the muscle stretch. He felt like scratching it, but restrained. The pain dulled after a while.

Somewhere in his subconscious, there were warning bells. He sat up and groaned, trying to look around for something to cheer him up.

There was a butterfly. He stared at it as it wavered around, focusing on its shiny blue wings till he felt calmer. His heart no longer thudded like it was on adrenaline. The butterfly flapped about till it slowed and rested on the back rest of Percy's seat. There was another bench placed back to back with his. Percy turned around, not wanting to startle the occupant sitting behind him.

The butterfly walked on its tiny limbs climbing over the jacket of the person's shoulder. Percy looked over the bench. The guy was reading a book, so he slowly raised his hand and laid it next to the butterfly, careful to not poke him.

The butterfly purposefully seemed to gauge his hand before climbing further up the jacket, over the collar and onto the stranger's neck. The guy looked up, surprised, and lifted a hand to bat the insect away. He turned around and Percy's eyes widened, trying not to look guilty.

"It was a butterfly. It's gone." Percy assured him.

He nodded slowly. He had deep blue eyes set in a pale face of sharp contours. Percy idly thought he had a model's grace by the way he turned around and said, "Well, thanks for rescuing me from a butterfly."

"Um… it's not…" Percy swallowed, watching the guy laugh, eyes looking so warm that some of the cold sweat ebbed away. He looked to be in his late teens or early twenties. Percy wasn't good with telling age. He wore a black suit like jacket and trousers which seemed oddly old fashioned. He wore it well.

"Goin' for an interview?" Percy asked, looking up at his hair. He couldn't focus on the eyes for too long without stammering. His gaze was too intense even with the smile.

"Not exactly. But I am trying something new." He looked down at the book he was holding. It was too far away for Percy to make out the English words. He didn't even try.

"Good luck, I guess."

The stranger smiled again. "Not from around here, are you?"

"Nope. What about you?"

"Oh, it has been a while since I was here. It's good. Rather noisy though." He wrinkled his nose as he looked at the kids.

"Did you expect a playground to be a peaceful place to read?" Percy teased.

"No… But it's been a while… I couldn't help myself…"

The man… boy… looked wistful. Percy tilted his head, trying to guess at it. "It's been years since I went to a playground. My favourite was the monkey bars."

The guy nodded. "Yes, those were fun. I preferred the parallel bars, myself." He looked back at Percy and then extended his arm. "My name is Tom."

Percy offered his own. "Jack."

Tom smiled again."You know, I didn't peg you for a Jack."

"Uh huh?"

"Hmm. I was hoping for something a little more unusual. I like unique names."

Percy raised an eyebrow. "Well, you can't get anymore unique than Tom."

Tom shook his head, grinning widely. "Tell me about it."

He looked back down at the book again before saying, "It's nice to talk to someone. But I have to get going." He stood up, flashed another happy look, eyes practically staring into Percy's soul, and then left.

For some reason, Percy couldn't help the odd shiver that ran down his spine.

* * *

 **Well, we all know who that was! Stay tuned.**

 **Q: How did Ginny fall down the stairs?**

 **Cabba.**


	7. Last Day

**Those who still haven't seen the poll, do check it out. We're getting interesting responses.**

 **Thank you for all the positive comments and reviews. They really kick up my spirit!**

 **Guest: There is the same number of horcruxes as there were in canon. Diary, locket, ring, cup, diadem, Nagini, Harry. As of now, two have been destroyed.**

 **A: Yup, Ginny was hit by a trunk that Fred and George were trying to levitate. Leave that to DJ, guys.**

 **Listening to – 10 Inch Nails by Paul Dinletir (Audiomachine)**

* * *

" _Sue me_." Thalia shrugged. " _I've never used an iPhone before. It's damn complicated, I don't know what the big deal is_."

"But it's still dangerous." Annabeth said patiently, stuffing her new textbooks into her bag. She'd be attending her new high school the next day and she had to be prepared for all possible scenarios. She'd read up on everything, packed in enough Ambrosia squares, memorized her timetable, rechecked her knife and sheath, colour coded her notebooks and safely placed her Yankees Baseball cap inside the bag before zipping it up.

"Trust me." Annabeth continued. "Stick to IMs, Thals."

Thalia gave in. (First and last time that would ever happen.) " _Fine. We'll be breaking camp soon, anyway. I just called to wish you good luck for tomorrow. You're sure you're gonna try the school thing?"_

"Yes." Annabeth sat back on her bed, brushing her hair back with one hand. "School is my one way ticket to a kind of normal life. I love Camp, but I can't live there forever. I want to be out too."

" _You don't have to go to school to be out_."

"School is my choice. I want an education. I want a good GPA. I want to get into a good college."

" _It's not gonna be easy."_ Thalia warned.

Annabeth let out a sigh. "I know. Besides the studying, I'll be taking the subway to and fro every day. If there is a monster, fighting underground will be more dangerous."

" _You have your cap?"_

"Of course, dummy." Annabeth said, exasperated. When she'd called Percy, he too had been worried but not to the extent of mothering her. Thalia, with all her goth looks, could rival any punk and make sure that Annabeth was well fed at the same time.

" _Hey, I'm just being cautious_." Thalia said in defence. " _I'll drop by sometime this week, promise_."

"Better keep to it." Annabeth threatened. "It's been a little boring this far away from Camp."

" _How boring? No-monsters boring or no-boyfriend boring?"_

Annabeth blushed. She couldn't help it. Every time she thought of Percy…

" _You're face is red, isn't it?"_ Thalia muttered, shrewdly. " _Jeez, who would have ever thought that Kelp Head could have the guts to woo you?_ "

"Shut up, Thalia."

" _No, seriously. I'd thought it would take at least a few more years before he realised that he liked you_."

Annabeth bit her lip. Could it have taken that long? Years? It sounded bizarre. It was strange enough that their crush status was bumped up to requited-interest status and that he was her boyfriend and they were in a long distance relationship and her thoughts immediately went to all the times they'd kissed and she really missed –

" _Stop drifting in Percy Land, girl_!" Thalia shouted. Annabeth blinked and pressed her phone against her ear.

"I really miss him, Thals. It's not easy at all. I'm in San Francisco and he's all the way in Manhattan. How can I go without seeing him for months?"

Annabeth stared at her ceiling, feeling a deep pit in her stomach. She missed him. It was different to how she'd missed him during other times when they were friends. But now, she really wished he were there with her, may be just for a few minutes.

" _You know he can water travel, or whatever the heck he does, right?"_ Thalia reminded her.

"Right." Annabeth muttered. "It tires him out, though."

" _So make it like a weekend deal. Say, after school on Friday, he comes over to your house. He can sleep till Saturday morning, spend the whole day with you, leave on Sunday evening, reach home and sleep till Monday morning."_

Thalia said in such a matter of fact tone that Annabeth wanted to yell at her. She instead took a deep breath and said, "My dad would go berserk. He knows Percy and I are dating now. If he didn't know that, he might have been fine with it. Plus, Sally feels a little awkward about it too. We've discussed it."

" _Oh. Sorry. You can try it once, though. You dad trusts Percy, right? Besides, the guy is so decent, some of my hunters actually don't mind him. And Sally loves you_."

Annabeth tilted her head to stare out her window. Sally wouldn't actually mind. Especially if they did it only once in a while but her dad and step mother told her firmly that while they didn't have any qualms about Percy as a friend, they (her dad, mainly) said that having a boyfriend over would not be appropriate.

It was 2012 for the gods' sakes! Did they think it would be the end of the world if Percy stayed over? Besides he would be on the couch during the nights. And they were fifteen and new into the relationship, it's not like… they'd _do_ anything…

She blushed furiously. She'd wished they could do something.

But a sleepover once in a while instead of every weekend sounded viable.

"You mean like once in a month?" Annabeth asked, thinking it over. "That sounds good. IMs are good and all, but …"

" _You need physical contact_." Thalia said solemnly.

"Don't make it sound dirty!"

" _I didn't. It's just a fact. I get it. That's how I felt every time I saw Harry_."

"Urgh! I didn't need that image! And you're not supposed to be thinking about that, Thalia!"

Annabeth heard her laugh and groaned. She'd forgotten that Thalia and Harry had… what dated? They seen each other just twice… thrice if she counted the night Thalia took the Hunter's Oath.

" _The thing with Harry was just a thing. A fling. Nothing serious_."

"He looked pretty torn up about it when you ended it." Annabeth pointed out.

Thalia stayed quiet for a while. Annabeth found herself wondering if her friend had ever regretted becoming a huntress. She must have. She did that only to avoid a war between the Olympians and the Titans. To avoid being killed by the gods.

" _Harry understood_." Thalia said, finally. " _He knew why I did this. And it's been months, he's over it, I'm sure_."

"Hmm." Annabeth said. She wanted to talk about Luke. She wanted to ask Thalia if Harry had been sort of a rebound for what Luke meant to her but decided against it. "Well, I'm late for lunch."

" _And I'm late for breakfast_." Thalia told her, jovially. " _I'll see you soon, Annie_."

"Bye." Annabeth said firmly and cancelled the call. She sat up and looked out the window covertly. It was serene. She pulled the curtains to cover it completely. And went downstairs, checking to see if the simple security measures she'd taken against any monster attack were triggered or not. After a thorough twenty minute search around her house, she decided that the only dangerous things were the pieces of legos that she'd almost stepped on.

* * *

Rachel brushed her long frizzy hair, counting, "…67, 68, 69…" She had to do this, then braid her hair, or else there would be a dark red hallow around her head that would be as far as possible from holy. Maybe DJ and Harry were right. The Potter hair curse was a terrible one.

"You're really eager for school, aren't you?" Bolt asked from where she was laying on the bean bag. Rachel's Familiar was a tiny little puppy, her default status for relaxations, although when there was no one else in the house, she'd turn into a tiger just for the fun of it.

"I've never been to a public school before." Rachel said, focusing on her task. She sat in front of her large vanity mirror inside her walk in closet, clad in pajamas, though it was barely afternoon. She was too lazy to change into something else.

"I've been home schooled, all my life." Rachel explained, although she was fairly sure that Bolt already knew. "My parents were pretty secluded like that. Even back in Aquitaine, I had all these tutors. It was nice, I guess. But being in a school with hundreds of others like me? Yeah, I'm nervous but also excited."

"Is that it?" Bolt asked slyly.

Rachel kept her mouth shut. 89, 90, 91, …

She could feel Bolt smirking all the way from her room. Smug little tiger puppy.

"Like I said, it'll be interesting to be in a classroom for up to five hours a day. The AP courses sounded so exciting in the brochures. And soccer try outs too! I can't wait for that."

"And your art classes and rebel groups." Bolt reminded her.

Rachel huffed. "It's not a rebel group."

"You go around the city drawing graffiti."

"Hush, puppy!" Rachel swiveled around to check the windows and door. There was no one else in the rooms but it still got to her.

"It's not just pointless graffiti, okay. And I did it only once." Rachel told Bolt in what she hoped was a convincing tone. "I won't do that again. I didn't like the sneaking around. I kept worrying."

"Yeah I know." Bolt sighed. "I'm in your head, remember?"

"That's not creepy at all." Rachel muttered. She finished one side of her hair and started brushing her other. She pulled at the tangled ends carefully and made her way to the top till she could bring her brush almost unhindered from the top till the bottom. 1, 2, 3,…

Rachel looked down at the various things on the desk in between her and the mirror. Her random pieces of artwork were strewn everywhere. There were two pages on her desk. One was a wild explosion of colours that she'd managed to do using crayons. There was no specific shape to it or precision to it. The colours that stood out were red, green and blue, overlapping each other every so often till it turned a murky grey in a few corners. She didn't know why she'd done that. She just felt like it.

The other one was more specific and quite embarrassing. It was a simple pencil outline of a certain boy she knew. Rachel stopped midway through brushing and stared down at the portrait of Percy. It was a slightly side view of his face. He was looking right at her, eyebrows raised up in surprise and delight, hair untamed and raised like he'd gelled it. She'd taken some artistic license with it, making his jaw sharp and angular as she'd imagine he would grow up to be.

Percy had the kind of good looks that were just starting out. Rachel could tell. She'd drawn people before, but this was the first time she'd drawn someone from memory alone. She knew, by looking at her friend, that he would be tall, unimaginably handsome with strong, dare say rugged, features, intense eyes, carefully angled eyebrows and dark hair that sprung up perfectly to make him all the more alluring.

But Rachel couldn't imagine any further. Her portrait of him wasn't exactly smiling. It was a surprised look that she had fixated on while drawing him. May be it was because when she first saw him, on the steps of Goode, he had had the same expression on seeing her.

Rachel started to brush again, determinedly staring at the mirror in front of her. Her face felt hot and she saw that her cheeks had gone red.

With a forceful move, she grabbed a piece of paper from the other side of her desk and slammed it on top of it. The new piece was a Ministry of Magic security instructions pamphlet that Harry had passed on to her. He'd also sent a few books, out of which the only one she'd read was Hogwarts: A History. She understood some of it, most of the items where explained by Bolt, so she had a good enough grasp of the situation.

There were a lot of problems. Voldemort was on the rise, his followers, Death Eaters, were reported to move in the shadows, the country was preparing for a fallout, the demigods were also preparing for a war and here, Rachel was worried about her extreme crush on a friend who she would now meet every day in school. Her priorities were on point.

* * *

Sunday was slow. As Hermione said, it was only because term was due to start. Fifth year was OWL year and a breath of fresh air would be rare for the rest of the year. But, also, as Ron said, there was no point in worrying about what was already slated to come. They would just have to enjoy the break and be ready for the onslaught of the weekdays.

But Harry's onslaught was to begin in the evening before Monday. His Occlumency lesson with Snape was scheduled within the hour and he was heading down for a light dinner, so as not to face the man on an empty stomach. It would do no good to collapse from exhaustion.

Hermione and Ron were busy in a Prefects' meeting with the other Houses, so Harry was on his own again. He realized that this would be a recurring theme for the rest of the year. He made his way to the Great Hall and was glad to see that there were enough of other older students, mostly Seventh years, who were also feasting with gusto.

The tables shifted every year. This time, Harry was glad to see that the Hufflepuff table was between Gryffindor and Slytherin. He wouldn't have to put up with Malfoy this year at least, while eating.

He spotted Ginny sitting with Luna at the Ravenclaw table. Since there weren't many others around him, and since he'd already caught a general number of eyes since he entered the hall, he made his way to the duo.

"Hello." He told them, reveling in Ginny's look of surprise. He didn't know why, but it was so much fun to poke at her.

"Good evening, Harry." Luna said. She didn't add any peculiar comment so after a few seconds of silence, he said, "Evening, Luna, Ginny. What brings you here?"

"Food."

"Astutely put, Luna. But you're early."

"So are you."

Ginny heaved a sigh. "I didn't want her to eat alone. And Colin and DJ are off to Merlin knows where, so don't bother asking."

Harry nodded, looking at the modest assortment of dishes in front of him. Most of the food always arrived at eight on the dot. But if there were people at the tables, starters and bits of the main course always sprung up.

He grabbed a couple of sausages and turned to look at Ginny. "Excited for the year?"

She gave him an odd look. "I guess."

She went back to her food, resolutely turning her body away from him in a clear sign of 'discussion done.' He tried not to show his disappointment and gave attention to his own plate. They ate in silence. Luna kept humming while she chewed and swallowed.

"You're fifth year will be busy." Luna said as though informing him. Harry had been about to reach for a pitcher of pumpkin juice.

"Yes. That's what I've heard. It's OWL year."

"And… will Percy be coming as well?"

Harry frowned. He knew that Ginny and DJ wouldn't actually tell Luna and Colin about demigods, even the four of them were best friends. But Luna, as usual, seemed to have worked out that there was something different about Percy. She was merely curious and not interrogative, so Harry said, "Probably not. With all the security, he wouldn't be able to come through, anyway."

Luna raised her eyebrows. It made her eyes practically pop out of her head. "Shields don't bother him."

Harry chuckled. "What?"

She kept her spoon aside and leaned in, suddenly excited. "It's a secret."

Even Ginny looked startled. "Shields don't bother Percy." Luna said, somehow emphasizing on every word. Harry shook his head.

"What is that supposed to mean? Of course the wards will stop anyone –"

"It didn't stop him last year." Luna pointed out.

"Wait… really?" Ginny asked, surprised. She turned her head to look at Harry.

Harry was taken aback. That was true. Percy had been able to travel to Hogwarts, appearing right on Hogwarts grounds like it had been nothing. (Well, he'd collapsed the first time.) Harry had later assumed that it was a demigod thing. Percy was a son of Poseidon, an all powerful god in his might, he would definitely be able to break wizard rules.

But the way Luna was stating it, it was like Percy had a special gift to … walk through shields that were specifically constructed to keep people out.

Luna grinned. "I would know." She said.

Ginny suddenly sat back, eyes wide. "Wow."

"What?" Harry asked again.

Ginny gestured with her chin. Luna, still smiling, said, "That's my Core magic. I have an ability with shields. I can conjure and manipulate them. But Percy wasn't disturbed by Hogwarts' magic. At least, not as much as he should have been. He had a blue glow around him like his magic was protecting him from being kicked out. It was fascinating."

"You'd called him an angel." Harry recalled, months ago when he'd caught Luna and Percy chatting in the Great Hall like it was normal for a witch and a demigod to be on such easy first time terms.

"He was glowing. He'd defied the wards. I thought he might have been dead, but he didn't look like a regular ghost, so I asked him. He wasn't offended. He was very nice to me."

Luna said this nostalgically. Harry nodded, thinking it over. Could Percy really just walk through all kinds of barriers? Was that another sea god power that he wasn't aware of?

"I'll talk to him." He told her. Luna smiled.

"Could I send him a letter?"

"I… suppose you could. But he doesn't live in the country."

Luna looked so downcast that Ginny glared at Harry and he immediately amended and said, "You could give them to me, I'll make sure he gets them. I won't read what you write."

She immediately perked up. "Oh would you! Thanks! Percy's the first friend I made so quickly, within five minutes. Ginny and I took seven months to get along, remember Ginny? You thought I'd stolen your pumpkin."

"Yeah…" Ginny smiled awkwardly.

"And then I'd thought you'd taken my crayons."

"I had taken your crayons."

"So, I walked all the way to your house in the snow…"

"My parents grounded me because you'd been half frozen."

"Those were fun times."

Harry grinned. Ginny had an expression that was the perfect amalgamation of uncomfortable and fondness. He knew how that felt with a friend who was as close as a sibling. Closer even.

Luna had promised to give him a letter to pass to Percy next morning, so they finished their dinner and Harry bid them goodbye, making his way down into the cool dungeons for his Occlumency session. His good mood filtered away slowly, the lower he went, till his mood was all but gone by the time he was knocking on Snape's door.

 _Clear your mind, Potter_ , Harry told himself. He wasn't going to give Snape any excuse that he wasn't working as hard as expected. As fun it would be for Sirius to march to Hogwarts and hex Snape, he really didn't want that duel to happen.

* * *

Percy turned the large, heavy locket in his hands. It looked like it was made out of solid gold, with an embossed 'S' on the top. There were two curved lines of tiny green stones embedded beside the upper and lower arcs of the large letter. The chain was gold and heavy as well. It weighed his hand down.

He was back in Grimmauld Place, having a whole room to himself now that DJ was at Hogwarts. He'd finished his packing. The next day was school and though he should have been taking his stuff downstairs to floo back to Manhattan, Percy sat on his bed, staring at the locket that had been in the black metal box Kreacher had given him.

It looked nothing like a heart. Percy couldn't imagine how an inanimate piece of jewellery could make any sort of sound on its own. Maybe the house elf really needed to be admitted. As of late, Percy had seen him wander around the house, muttering Christmas carols to the tune of Mrs. Black's funeral songs.

Percy's shoulders slumped. He'd hoped to get something useful from the box. Then he could tell Nico, DJ and Harry that it had been nothing to worry about. That the heartbeat was nothing dangerous. Percy thought of giving the locket to Sirius. It might have been a Black family heirloom but it had no sign of the insignia on it. Just the ornate 'S'.

The cold metal started to annoy him and Percy threw it back into the box shutting it tightly. He'd leave it for Sirius to decide. Percy stood up, reading to swing his bag over his shoulders when a squeaky voice rang out.

"Demigod not taking heart?"

"Gah!" Percy jumped so high, he could have leaped over Kreacher with ease.

The house elf was standing right behind him, looking worried. His large eyes bulged from underlying fear, if Percy wasn't mistaken.

"Kreacher! Gods! Don't do that!"

"Demigod leaving heart behind!" Kreacher demand. His hands started to shake.

"I have a name, you know." Percy grumbled, sitting back on the bed. He looked at the elf, frowning. "What's up with the locket? Why are you so… ansty?"

"Bad heart…" Kreacher mumbled, shaking his head.

Percy sighed. He was never going to get any answers this way. He slid from the bed and sat cross-legged on the floor in front of him.

"Alright Kreacher. Let's take a deep breath and sort it out. Why do you want the heart gone?"

"Bad heart." Kreacher repeated.

"I get that, but why?"

Kreacher looked up at the black box that sat on the bed. Percy reached up and grabbed it, placing it between them. Kreacher flinched and took a step back.

"First of all, why are you calling it a heart?" Percy said slowly. He couldn't understand why the elf was so scared of a locket. It didn't make any sense.

"Alive." Kreacher said, staring at the box, unblinkingly.

"The locket's alive?"

"Heart."

Percy blinked and then pressed a hand on his forehead, trying to make sense of it. "The locket has a heart and it's alive?"

"Bad heart."

Percy exhaled. He thought it over as his tongue poked the inside of his cheek. It must be some kind of magic. The heartbeats they'd heard weeks ago was obviously connected to this. Kreacher had said he was the one who'd made the noise. Noise of drums, as he'd told Sirius. But Kreacher wasn't supposed to lie to Sirius, who was Master. No matter how much he tried to figure out what it all meant, he couldn't make head or tails of it.

But the bottom line was, the locket was bad.

"I'll give it to Sirius, okay Kreacher? He'll know what to do …"

He frowned. Kreacher had opened the box and taken the locket out. He held it reverently. It was odd. After the repeated announcements of the locket having a bad heart, Kreacher still stared at it as though it held all the answers to life.

"Listen." The elf whispered. Percy shuddered. It was wrong. He could feel that much.

"I'll just go… " He said quietly, making to get up and get someone, anyone.

"Listen!" Kreacher grabbed Percy's palm and pressed it to the locket. Percy had to bend down to try and wrench his hand away from the elf's grip, but froze.

There it was. The heartbeat.

It wasn't a sound as such. Percy could feel the thunderous vibrations of each beat shimmering up his hand, travelling into his chest and competing with his own heart. It was jarring, like standing next to the speakers at a rock concert, but with none of the excitement or enjoyment. The locket seemed to grow colder by the second till Percy was sure that his fingers would be permanently glued to the metal.

With a final beat, the locket went silent. Percy's fingers throbbed from the pulsations. He pulled his hand away, glaring at Kreacher.

"What was that?" He hissed. "Why did you do that?"

"Demigod take heart." Kreacher said slowly as though Percy was dumb.

"Oh, I'll take the heart alright." Percy snatched the locket away from the elf. He'd take it and give it to the Order and it'd be their headache then. His fingers still tingled, the hair on his arms standing on ends. The locket grew colder still in his grasp and Percy grunted, feeling dizzy. He tried to get up but his knees buckled and he had to catch himself on the edge of the bed to avoid falling down.

The room seemed to tilt for a second. His vision went narrow and he shut his eyes, pressing them with the heels of his palms. He could feel the metal of the locket's chain, dangling heavily, swinging with far more enthusiasm than necessary.

 _Sleep._

No, Percy thought. He had to go... downstairs… Sirius…

 _You're tired._

"No." He said aloud.

 _Close your eyes._

Percy couldn't open his eyes. He grabbed at the covers on his bed to haul himself up, eyes shut for some reason. He wasn't tired. Why was he climbing into bed?

His head touched the pillow, the soft pillow and the tension in his body ebbed away. The locket no longer felt cold. It was warm now, easy to hold. Percy let out a sigh, feeling his entire body relax. His mind was calm, no thoughts of urgency or danger, just wave after wave of soothing energy, washing over him softly.

* * *

"Kreacher!" Sirius bellowed. Sally sighed, watching as Sirius held the banister with both hands, looking up the stairs with annoyance. She stood at the entrance of the kitchen. Hands folded, leaning against the wall. Her bags were around her feet and she was ready to leave. Nico and Percy were still upstairs and Sirius had the brilliant idea of calling Kreacher to check up on them.

"That elf is going to be decapitated in the next ten seconds –"

"Sirius!" Sally called. "Leave him be. I'm sure the boys are done with their packing."

"He should come when he's called."

"Use the magic word."

Sirius gave a dramatic eye roll and said. "Fine. Kreacher! Would you _please_ grace us with your presence?"

There was a loud crack in the kitchen and Sally jerked a little as the house elf popped into existence between her and Sirius.

"Master called?" The elf looked jittery, hands folded but wringing his fingers tightly.

"Where were you?" Sirius said, adopting a lofty and humble tone. Sally side eyed him.

"Cleaning the house, Master."

"Oh yeah? Which one? The White House or the Blacks'?"

Sally coughed loudly.

Kreacher looked up at Sirius and said saintly, "The Noble and Most Ancient Hou –"

"I hear that title one more time, I will either kill you or myself." Sirius promised forebodingly. "Where were you, really?"

"Kreacher says it as it was, Kreacher was cleaning."

Sally saw Sirius's face go red. She raised her voice and said, "That's very nice of you, Kreacher."

Kreacher turned his head by a fraction of an inch in her direction before looking at Sirius' shoes. Sally and Sirius looked at each other, equally surprised. Usually if anyone talked to the elf, Kreacher would answer back or add muttered wishes of how _filthy_ the speakers were. He'd called Hermione 'mudblood' more than once, which resulted in Sirius banishing him to the attic. He'd also called Sally, Nico and Percy other unfavourable words which again led to him yelling some unmentionable words at the elf.

But now, Kreacher simply said nothing, waiting for instructions from a stunned Sirius.

"I think he's finally cracked." Sirius mumbled.

"That's not funny, Sirius." Sally said. She too stared down at the elf who twitched but stayed there with head bent low, looking so subservient and pathetic and Sally felt bad. She walked over to Sirius and said, "I'll you check on the boys."

He nodded, frowning slightly at the elf, like he had no clue what to do now that Kreacher wasn't insulting anyone. Sally turned and walked up the stairs, looking back occasionally at the odd scene.

It wasn't like that was the strangest thing to happen today. Just that morning, Alice and Frank had been regailing tales of their time from Hogwarts which had also involved a lot of shenanigans from especially from the Marauders. Apparently, there was no other way to win a Quidditch match without Sirius proposing to James every time before the play during their seventh year. Sally had then asked if they'd made out to seal the deal and the answer was an enthusiastic 'yes!'

Lily had also sworn to pay for the wedding expenses it seemed. Sally could imagine the hilarity of the scene and was glad that they were so comfortable discussing all this that Sally had also admitted to kissing a girl in high school. That hadn't been a joke or a dare, though. Sirius' expression had been priceless.

Sally smiled just thinking about it. She reached the third floor and headed for Nico's room since the door was already open. She knocked on it. "Nico? Ready to leave?"

"Just about!" Nico called. Sally pushed the door wider and peered in. Nico had his bag all ready on the bed, but he was on his hands and knees, peering under his bed, searching for something.

"What did you lose?" She asked, looking around.

"Tyche. I can't find her anywhere!" Nico looked a little distressed. His pack of Mythomagic playing cards were scattered on the bed covers.

"Do you remember seeing her in the pack when you took it out last?"

"No. She was there a few days ago, but I played with Tonks, Remus and Mrs. Longbottom this morning before they left. I've been searching for a whole ten minutes."

Sally looked around the room for likely placed that could hide a single card. "Where did you play?"

"In the hall. I looked there."

Sally sat on the bed and started to look through the cards. He was right. She couldn't find Tyche but spotted her sister, Nemesis, smirking up at her.

"We'll ask Sirius to summon the card. C'mon. Let's get these downstairs. Did Percy finish packing?"

Nico sat up, a little disgruntled. "I dunno. I'll check."

Sally gathered the remaining cards and arranged them in a solid bunch. From cross the corridor, she head Nico yell, " _Wake up!"_

There was a loud thump followed by, "NICO!"

Percy had the awful luck of falling asleep at the worst times possible. Sally knew for a fact that he could doze off during a conversation. She shook her head as she slipped the pack into its cover. She hoped that wouldn't hinder his classes. Goode was supposed to be helpful to both Percy and Nico since the teachers were mostly trained to maneuver around problems such as ADHD and dyslexia.

Sally shook her head. She was worrying too much. They would be fine.

* * *

 **Calm before the storm. Jackson. Stay tuned for the next chapter, everyone!**

 **Q: When did Luke visit Annabeth to convince her to run away with him?**

 **Cabba.**


	8. Future Plans

**Here we go. Thanks for the comments. They make my day as always.**

 **A: A while before the Battle of the Labyrinth, Luke visited Annabeth at her home, asking her to leave with him. You got it right, HarryPusheen.**

 **Listening to – Shower by Becky G**

* * *

Harry couldn't sleep.

The day had been hectic. Monday had brought on a whole slew of homework and other assignments that the fifth years had to slog over. All their free time was reserved only working to meet the deadlines. Potions was cruel. Snape had tasked them with researching into a potion that each student was expected to brew on their own by the end of the school year. Hermione had already made notes on the requirements of the term paper while Ron had wanted to die just thinking about it.

McGonagall introduced an entire set of transfiguration theories that they were expected to cover by the month. Flitwick, Sprout and Babbling had shown no mercy. Harry didn't even want to think about the mound of work they already had and it was only the first day!

The only class they had any reprieve in was the first two hours which had been History of Magic. What a way to start the fifth year… Binns had basically droned about Giant Wars, his voice sounding so wheezy that Harry had done arm and leg stretches in his seat.

By the time the five boys had stumbled back into their dorm room, they were dragging their bags. Ron and Dean had fallen into bed without changing out of their uniforms while Seamus wrestled with his jumper, swearing the whole time. Neville sat on his bed, blinking so heavily that he could have fallen asleep sitting. It took them at least an hour to sort themselves out and go back downstairs for dinner. Harry was glad that he didn't have Occlumency lessons with Snape.

But after it all, even with the tiredness weighing on his shoulders, Harry couldn't sleep. He could hear the symphony of snores from the others, but he couldn't drift away as they did. His eyes were heavy and he could feel himself drift between the conscious and unconscious realms. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't sleep.

He'd taken his sleeping draught last night after the draining Occlumency session. His dosage had been reduced to once in two nights. But Harry could feel his mind and body itching for the vial kept in his night stand.

He tried to think back to his training. _Focus on your breathing…_

In. Out… In. Out…

He counted each breath. 1, 2, 3… 7, 8, 9,…43, 44, 45…

Harry's eyes snapped open. He glared into the darkness. Counting sheep would have been more effective.

He threw the covers off of him, sitting up and breathing deeply. He felt fine. 'Fine' as in he wasn't mortally wounded. He was just tired. It was close to midnight. The natural thing would be to fall asleep.

His palms closed into fists. It wasn't working. Harry closed his eyes, his body feeling weak. There was an intense heat roiling through his veins as though they should be on fire. But his skin was cold and there was sweat on the back of his neck. He knew it was a side effect of …Rome.

Harry let out a chuckle. Did they think he didn't know what had happened? He remembered the explosion. He remembered being thrown out of the room by that tiny grenade. He remembered the fire, the burning, raging heat that seared his body, melted his skin and scorched his flesh. Greek Fire wasn't pretty.

The question was, how did he survive it? Nobody told him how he recovered. For some reason, they were unwilling to even talk about it.

Sirius would never tell him. The man wouldn't even talk about the larger and more secretive work of the Order. Remus would be worried about Harry's reaction to whatever they had to say. Sally would be afraid of the repercussions after he found out the truth. The adults couldn't be trusted with giving him the truth. He needed another avenue.

Harry slipped on his shoes and walked out of the dorm. He took the stairs slowly, wondering if the sleepiness hit him, would he simply curl up on the floor? Yeah, probably.

He entered the Common Room and immediately looked into the fireplace. There was a small fire in the hearth and the flames were a bright turquoise in colour. It was baffling, until he spotted a small crouched figure sporting a head of short red hair.

Over her shoulders was a new green jacket with the words 'Harpie Head' emblazoned on the back. Harry recognized it as another of DJ's gifts.

He lingered by the entrance of the staircase, standing still for a moment before walking over to her and dropping into a comfortable position on the floor beside her. Ginny didn't even acknowledge him. They stared into the flames as it turned pink. Harry recognized it has Tonks favorite shade of hair that she preferred.

"Nice." He told Ginny. She didn't respond. Her arms were hugging her legs to her chest. She looked vulnerable but the expression on her face was anything but. She was concentrating on the fire. He decided that she didn't want a conversation and was ready to sit in silence but she spoke up.

"Are you cold?"

"No… no. Are you?"

She frowned. "No."

"Couldn't sleep, then?"

"No."

Harry exhaled, rolling his eyes. This was why English was so limiting. 'No, she couldn't sleep' or 'no, she could sleep but didn't want to'?

"What are you doing here?" He asked. If they weren't sleeping they might as well talk.

"Practicing."

"Practicing your cynicism?"

Ginny finally turned to him. "What?"

"Got your attention." He shrugged. "Do you have trouble with your magic?"

It was a sensitive subject to address a witch or wizard. No one wanted to talk openly about how they had problems with their own magic that one was supposed to have control over by the time the Hogwarts letter arrived. Her reaction was expected.

"Excuse me?" She snapped.

Harry hid a grin. "I said, do you have –"

"If you think this is funny –"

"You'll burn me?"

She gave him a smirk. "I could."

He shook his head. "I know that all too well." He remembered his third year when he'd pissed her off spectacularly and she'd responded by lobbing fire balls at him.

She narrowed her eyes. "Why can't you sleep?"

"I didn't have my potion today."

"Why not?"

"I'm supposed to stick to a regiment. I'm cutting down on sleeping draughts."

Ginny raised an eyebrow. "You use to have them regularly?"

"Nearly. You know… ever since… the thing in Italy."

He turned to look back into the fire. He kept remembering the grenade exploding in front of him, but strangely, the hearth in front of him didn't give him too much anxiety. It might have something to do with the bright magenta sparks that the pink flames were spitting out.

"Are you hungry?" Ginny asked and Harry stared at her. She didn't say anything about Italy. With everyone else asking him about it, he'd have guessed she was curious about it too. But then, she hadn't asked anything about Percy and Nico either, even after they'd revealed their demigod status at the meeting.

"A bit." He told her. He suddenly wanted ice cream.

"Do… do you wanna go down to the kitchens?" She asked slowly. Her voice suddenly sounded shy. He watched her face closely. The fierce look on her face was gone. Her eyes had gone wide as though she'd surprised herself with the question. Her freckles suddenly looked stark against the pink glow of the fire and her eyes seemed to glow with her magic.

"Uh…" Harry had forgotten what she'd asked.

"I could use a sandwich." Ginny muttered. Her face was glowing pink. It took him a moment to realize that she was blushing.

It felt like a lifetime ago. He remembered walking into the Burrow as a twelve year old, a scrawny little DJ tagging with him. He remembered a red haired girl even tinier than DJ, red faced when she saw him. Ron had once said that she'd fancied him. But after the incident of Chamber, after Tom, Harry had thought she hated him. He supposed that she had wanted to hate herself, but it was easier to direct it at someone who could fight back. He remembered wanting to vent the same way. He'd loved arguing with her.

"What?" He said stupidly.

Ginny blinked. "Do you want to go down to the kitchens? I know how to get in."

Harry cleared his throat. "Yeah. That would… I'd like that… yeah…"

* * *

Percy snored his way through the night.

It wasn't even a very taxing day. The first day of school never was. There was a lot of introducing by the teachers and the classmates. Not to mention, the fact that he was in a new school, the first year of high school, not many year mates knew each other. There were a few who had been life-long best friends. They'd made their own clique, had their own table in the cafeteria and what not. But most were just starting out. Luckily, for Percy, Rachel was new too, and they had lunch together at a table with three other freshmen, whose names Percy hadn't been able to remember by the time the last bell had rung.

He'd felt strangely energetic the entire day. Nico, as he knew, was in the building next to his, having enrolled in middle school. They had different lunch times unfortunately. Percy hadn't seen him until after the last hour. At the last, they could walk to and from school.

He'd forgotten to call Annabeth. But she'd forgotten it as well and it bothered him. He should have IMed her. But he kept yawning all the way from school, so much so that he let Nico try his skateboard on the way home.

Nico had kept chattering about his new subjects and the immense number of students (there were only about twenty in nearly all his classes, but that was a lot for him.)

All in all, it was a perfectly relaxed day.

 _He was standing in front of a cracked mirror. His reflecting had a disturbing smile. It was jarring. Percy turned around and walked into a forest. It was snowing. The soft flakes fell gently, covering the ground and the trees in a thin layer. There was a spider in front of him. It was as big as a bus and had seven legs. It was dead._

 _The snow turned red. It coagulated around his bare feet, cementing him in one spot. Percy gasped and tried to yank his feet free, but he was stuck. He shut his eyes, pulling at his trousers till a strong flash of light illuminated the scene behind his eyelids. He opened them slowly, wary of what was happening but saw Camp Half Blood._

 _Camp was in all its glory. It was a sunny day and the campers were following their schedules set up for everyday work. From his spot, he could see the cabins standing proudly. There were people milling about, some were in the strawberry fields and some were sharpening the weapons in the garage of the Hephaestus cabin. The nature spirits were planning the weekly foot races and many of the younger campers were excitedly drawing the lines for the tracks._

" _Half blood?"_

 _Percy saw a boy to his right. He was in all black, looking sophisticated and out of place in Percy's home. There was a soft look of curiosity in his deep blue eyes. Percy recognized him belatedly._

" _Tom." He said._

 _Tom smiled at him. He was taller than Percy, though not as much as Luke. Percy didn't know many people in their twenties except for Luke. He guessed Tom was about that much._

" _Hello Jack."_

 _The name startled Percy till he realized that was what he'd told him. "Hi. What're you doing here?"_

 _Tom shrugged. "I was bored."_

" _Well, I was asleep."_

 _He grinned. Percy thought he looked a little too handsome, grinning like that. He had an elegance that many people had to work for. Percy had a feeling that Tom woke up in the mornings, completely charismatic and ready for the day._

 _Tom gave him a look of surprise. "Are you aware?"_

" _Aware of what?"_

" _That you're asleep?"_

 _Percy stared. He then looked around. His camp was still there. It hadn't disappeared like the previous scene of the forest._

" _I'm dreaming." Percy said slowly. Most of the time, he knew when he was dreaming. He could even manipulate it to a certain extent, but it was very shaky. This dream was odder than usual. He wasn't sure if was dreaming about a Tom, a stranger he'd talked to for a few minutes, or if Tom in the dream was the real person as well._

" _Not many people know when they are dreaming." Tom sounded impressed._

" _It's easier for me…" Percy had an inkling that he should be on his guard. But he wasn't too sure what the danger was._

" _Hmm. What does half blood mean to you?"_

 _Percy was about to say it out loud. He opened his mouth but froze. Wait… retreat. He looked at Tom. There was nothing suspicious about him. But… the question was too specific…_

 _Tom pointed at the sign above them. It was an arch made of tough wood and metal. In Ancient Greek were the words 'Camp Half Blood.' Percy stared at it blinking madly. Then he said, "It's just a name."_

 _Tom nodded. He slipped his hands in his pockets and said, "It's a nice place."_

" _Yes." Percy was still looking at him. His sharp features gave him the aristocratic look. It reminded Percy of Harry. Harry who used to wear all black, used put his hands in his pockets and act casual but was alert all the time to his surroundings._

 _But Tom was muggle, wasn't he? Definitely mortal. And absolutely normal. It was just a dream. It didn't mean anything._

" _It must be good to have a place like this to call home." Tom said softly and inhaled the fresh morning air._

" _Yes." Percy nodded._

 _Tom's smile widened._

The dream dissolved and a few hours later, he had another one which involved Annabeth, Thalia and Luke roasting marshmallows. Behind them was the setting sun.

He forgot about it as morning came. Percy slept through the alarm, through the sounds of Nico running in the room noisily, through the yells of his mother trying to wake him up till finally…

"PERSEUS!"

Percy woke up with a shriek. He grabbed Riptide and clicked it, ready for a fight. His room was sunny and warm and all traces of sleep had disappeared.

His mother stood at the door, hands on her hips with a look of shock mixed with irritation.

"Oh… hi… mom… you look gre –"

"Look at the time!" She snapped. Percy rubbed his eyes and turned to look at the alarm clock beside his bed. It read 8:07 a.m.

"Ahh!"

"School starts at 8:30!"

"Right. Right!" He leaped from the bed, searching for fresh clothes in his wardrobe. Sally groaned.

"I've been calling for an hour. Nico already left. Did you have a late night?"

 _No. I had a weird dream, though,_ Percy thought. He rushed into the shower and took barely ten minutes to finish his morning rituals before heading for the kitchen for food. His hair dripped water into his face and Percy shook it, absorbing the water till it was completely dry. He dropped his bag into the chair beside him.

"You're going to be late." Sally warned.

Percy gave her a tentative smile. "You could drop me off –"

"You wish!" She laughed. He huffed and attacked his toast with vigour. "You'll never learn if I help you."

"Mom, if they book me as a troublemaker this early into the semester, they'll never trust me."

Sally grinned. "You'll have to run. Eat properly."

His mom could be cruel. People usually didn't expect that. He downed his spinach juice with a grimace. "Regular people have orange juice, you know?"

"That's just in the TV."

"Nope." Percy burped, earned a sharp look from his mother and said, "Excuse me."

"You'll have to set the alarm louder and maybe a little earlier." She said, packing her own bag with a large file. Sally worked in a publication company during the week. She had college during the weekends. She was majoring in Media Studies in the Sandra Community College, midtown. Percy had no idea how she was balancing everything.

She probably woke up early.

"It's not easy." He complained. "Once I'm asleep, it's like everything switches off!"

"And the alarm should switch you back on." Sally said pointedly. "That's the reason it was invented. Or you could hone your body clock."

"My what?"

Sally exhaled fondly. "Some people wake up when it's seven. Or earlier. After it becomes a daily routine to wake up at a given time, it's a habit that you can't break."

"You're talking about Harry." Percy said, getting up and picking his bag off the chair. He pressed a kiss to his mother's cheek. "I can't be as regular as Harry. He can wake up early, get ready on time, get all his stuff organized and be in class like the goody two shoes he is. I can just try."

She gave him a sad look. "Don't compare yourself to anyone."

Percy shrugged. "It's alright. I know that he's him and I'm me. I promise I won't be late tomorrow. Can't be sure of my track record, though. You know how nasty I can be."

Sally ruffled his hair. "Oh, we all know what a demon you truly are. Pressuring the young into terrible vices, goading yours peers into daredevilry, Troublemaker Jackson!"

* * *

"I double dare you." Harry whispered, grinning at Ron.

"Ron! No!" Hermione hissed. "Don't you dare!"

"Relax, it'll be fun."

"It won't! And that's not the point! We're in class!"

"Ron, just this once."

Ron looked torn as he looked from left to right, from Harry to Hermione who were seated on either side. They were in their last class of their second day. History of Magic again. But Harry had decided to spice things up. Or rather, to cool things down.

"It does sound fun." Parvati giggled. She leaned back from her chair. "Oh, give it a try, Ron!"

"What if we get caught?" Neville asked, eyes darting between Binns and the newly made prefect.

"I don't think he'll even know if something goes wrong." Terry Boot said, thoughtfully. "It would be interesting to snap him out of his zone."

"Very interesting." Harry smirked. Hermione glared at him.

"Ron. Look at me. You're not going to do anything stupid. You are a prefect!" She had abandoned her attempt at taking notes and was trying to pull Ron onto the good side. She was also failing miserably since most of the class wanted to watch the trick.

"Ron, don't let her decide things for you." Harry said. "You can think for yourself. And it's nothing terrible. And Hermione, you need to calm down."

Her nostrils flared. "I can assign detention, you know."

Harry sat up straight. "You can't give detentions to prefect. This isn't even that big of a deal! Look, we're talking at normal volumes and Binns still hasn't noticed."

The class was now focusing on them rather than the ghost. After the slumber fest from yesterday, it was a treat. Ron couldn't seem to decide on what to do. He looked a little worried, but also excited.

"Psst! Ron." Dean called. "Five sickles says you can't."

Ron sat up straight. "Five?"

"Oh no. Five sickles says that he can and he will." Seamus hissed gleefully.

"I think you will do it." Lavender said primly. "Ten sickles."

"Betting is illegal." Hermione mumbled, realizing that she'd already lost.

"Only if you get caught." Sue Li commented.

Harry cocked his head and batted his eyelashes at Ron. He knew he looked ridiculous since Seamus burst into muffled laughter.

"You're all daft." Ron muttered, grinning. He cupped his hands together, concentrating on the spot between them. Slowly, a soft blue glow emerged from within, growing bigger till it was the size of a bludger. It was made completely of water, shifting gracefully in the form of a sphere, flowing within itself, levitating between his hands.

"Cool." Anthony Goldstein muttered. The room was quiet except for Binns' continous monotone. Apparently, Giants were descended from certain deities…

Ron let the sphere float away from him, moving higher till it was hovering right above the professor's translucent head.

Hermione leaned forwards, placing her chin in both hands. Harry could tell she was interested, despite herself. The class held their breath as Ron raised his eyebrows and flicked his fingers. The ball of water, still holding its form, fell right through Binns. They heard a sharp crackling sound from the water and as it emerged from one of the legs of the ghost, it had been solidified into an ice block which hit the floor with a resounding thud. The ice was white and was nearly perfectly formed.

Binns stopped talking. Everyone fell quiet. The professor shook his head, turned around, as though wondering if someone had interrupted him. Then he looked back towards the board and continued his lecture on giant descendants.

"Oh my god." Hermione whispered. "We really need a new teacher."

Ron gave Harry a fist bump.

The bell rang after a while and as they packed and left the room, Hermione wasn't mad at them anymore. Instead, she'd begun a monologue on the standards of teaching across various schools. Harry was happy, though. He'd gotten to do something silly and it felt fun.

Last night, when he and Ginny had had a late midnight snack, she'd suggested a few things to improve his day. Apparently, Fred and George had relieved their fellow year mates during their fifth year by conducting a few practical jokes for the benefit of all. It had helped improve the mood significantly as a group in the long term.

Harry knew people usually didn't prefer is generally macabre brand of humour. But a small prank never hurt anyone. Sirius and Remus would be proud at the very least.

"That was cool, Weasley." Lisa Turpin said. Padma laughed, winking at him as they walked past the trio.

Ron looked extremely pleased with himself. Hermione huffed. "Really, you could still get in trouble for that."

"Hermione, admit it! You enjoyed it as well."

She looked miffed. "It was fun, yes. But from the point of view of an authority –"

"It was still fun." Harry insisted. She didn't look content with his answer. Instead, she watched him closely as though she were scanning him.

"What?" He asked.

"You seem …off." Hermione said slowly.

Harry raised his eyebrows. "Okay?"

Ron leaned in and stage-whispered. "She means you seem happy."

"I've been happy before."

"No, she means that you're smiling and joking and all."

"I smile." Harry said incredulously.

Hermione and Ron kept watching him as though waiting for him to say, 'Opposite day!'

Harry sighed. Was he that stoic? His own friends were astounded that he could erase a moody and dull atmosphere. He remembered being quite unresponsive to jovial atmospheres, even hesitant to participate in them, but had he been that bad? Socializing hadn't been his strong point when he'd been younger. But apparently, it was more drastic than he'd expected.

"I guess I changed." He replied, uncertain.

Hermione blinked. Ron looked surprised as well. They shared a look and then turned back to him.

"That's good." He said.

"Yes, Harry. And the prank was fun." She said.

Harry had the feeling they were just saying it for his benefit. Whatever. He was just glad since within a few hours, he'd get to have a dose of his draught and have eight hours of peaceful sleep.

They crossed the courtyard where several students were milling about. It had its general noisy atmosphere and Harry usually didn't pay attention to them, but this time, he spotted the sixth year Ravenclaws sitting underneath the tree in one of the corners. Cho was there and they all seemed to be sharing notes.

"Hey, give me a sec, will you?" Harry told Ron and Hermione. He sprinted across the ground, nearly colliding with a gaggle of shy first years who shrieked when they saw him up close. Harry whipped his bag away before it could hit their heads and reached the tree where several of the sixth years fell silent on his arrival.

"Hey! Cho! Do you have a moment?" He asked, still clutching the strap of his satchel. Cho was the only one who didn't look shocked or even mildly surprised.

"Sure." She said and stood up, her robes and bag still on the ground. She looked cute in her shirt and skirt and Harry focused his gaze at her face, determined to fix it there. They stood away from the crowds but he could still feel everyone's eyes on them.

"Tell him that I'd like to meet up. Is the weekend okay?"

Cho understood immediately. "Friday works best. I'll pass it on. Wait in the common room at 8:10."

Harry nodded. Friday was fine. His Occlumency sessions were on Thursdays and Sundays, so he'd have the time. Most would be down for dinner at eight so he'd have the room all to himself. "Got it."

"Good. And another thing." Cho tilted her head and her voice went into a whisper. "Next time, let's make it a little more discreet, yeah?"

Harry frowned and then took a look around them. About forty faces were watching them. He sighed. "Good advice. Thanks."

Cho giggled and walked back to her group, sitting down and picking up her notes like nothing had happened. Harry hitched the strap of his bag higher up his shoulder and walked towards Ron and Hermione. They stared expectatly.

"Hungry?" He asked.

"Yup." Ron said, grabbing his and Hermione's arms to pull them back into the corridor. "While we eat, you can tell us what all that was about."

They pulled their arms away. Harry said, "It's no big deal. I just want to talk to Cedric."

Hermione, who had glared at Ron for his uncouth action, turned around swiftly. "Cedric Diggory? What about?"

"No clue. You can join me if you want. Friday night. Ten past eight. He has something he wanted to discuss. It might be important."

"I heard he registered as an auror trainee." Ron said thoughtfully. They made their way up the moving staircases towards the tower. "Charlie was surprised. He'd thought Cedric wanted to be a solicitor."

"Solicitor sounds dull." Harry commented, sliding his hands into his pockets. He shook his head, smiling when he felt his hair tickle his neck. He liked this length.

"I read that article." Hermione said, nodding towards Ron. "The reporters were practically hounding him after the tournament. When he joined the Auror Training Centre, it convinced people even more about You-Know-Who's return."

"May be that's what he wanted to talk about!" Ron exclaimed. They reached the seventh floor and Hermione gave the Fat lady the password. "He might know something about You-Know-Who!"

"May be." Harry nodded. He was sure that would be interesting.

* * *

Sally had reached home four in the evening, ready for crash. But she found a pleasant face waiting for her in the apartment.

"You look like you need a foot massage." Sirius said, grinning widely. He was clearly happy about something.

"Yes please." Sally said, wrenching her boots off of her feet in a hurry. She leapt onto the couch and he sat on the other end, bring her legs onto his lap. He laughed when she let out a groan, sinking her head into the couch's arm.

"You are comedy gold, Jackson." He told her. She nodded, smiling as he knead her heels. The man had skills.

"How was your day?" She asked him.

Sirius sat up, excited. "Oh, I have two good news!"

"Two? Wow, we're really maintaining the score, aren't we?"

Sirius shrugged. He pressed her toes individually and started explaining in a low voice. "You know the… weapon, I told you about?"

"Yeah?"

"We're planning to destroy it."

Sally sat up. She'd been to all of two Order meetings and both times they'd stressed the importance of protecting the weapon that could be used against Harry. If Voldemort got his hands on it, it could even mean a tip in the balance of powers, though Sally wasn't exactly sure of how that was possible. But clearly, the information was worth more than she honestly knew.

"Oh my gods! Are you sure? I mean, is this a group decision? Are you allowed to tell me this?"

Sirius stopped massaging. He looked solemn all of the sudden. "Albus has been planning lessons for Harry."

"I know that." She agreed.

"I told him that the more Harry knows, the better prepared he would be. Alice and Frank backed me up. Molly was hesitant, of course. She thinks it will scare Harry."

"It will scare him. It could scare anyone." Sally said.

"It took us a while, but Albus finally agreed. He wasn't sure on how Harry would take it, but since we would be there when we showed it to him… he feels better about it. The point is, once Harry knows the pro – the information, it would be better to get rid of it. The Occlumency that he's learning now would also keep him safe from anyone who wants to know it as well."

Sirius leaned back against the couch and continued to press her sore feet. Sally was quiet, thinking it over. On one hand, she was glad that they would be destroying it. The weapon had been too dangerous to remain where it was, no matter how secure the location is. Not to mention, once Harry knew what it meant, it would definitely raise more questions and cause more pain, but he'd know why it all began in the first place. May be that part would be finally settled.

"It won't be easy for him to handle it." Sally said.

Sirius nodded. "Right now, the only one who knows the whole thing is Albus and two Unspeakables in the Department of Mysteries. Neither of them is allowed to even think about it as per regulation and Albus would never let it out anyway. I just hope it goes well."

Sally didn't know what the weapon was, except that it was a prophecy that first prompted Voldemort to target the Potters. And from Percy's censored regaling of his quests, she knew prophecies were written versions of real life tragedies waiting to happen.

"But you think it's good that Harry'll get to know." Sally guessed.

Sirius shook his head. "He's a strong kid. But that's no excuse for this to be a burden on him. Rather than him finding it out another way, this is the best thing for us to do. It'll be a controlled situation. Remus and I'll be there. Alice and Frank, as well."

Sally smiled. "That's good. He won't be alone."

Sirius looked at her. "That's exactly the point."

She breathed slow and deep. It wouldn't be pleasant. She couldn't imagine being told that there was a specific reason why a mass murderer went after your family and some others. That would be enough to scare the stuffing out of anyone. Harry was a strong kid, but Sirius was right. It still wasn't reason why it should happen to him. But once it was done and out of the way, they'll be able to plan and prepare for the future. They'll be able to make themselves stronger with the information.

She watched as he focused on her feet. He was pressing rather hard, clearly deep in thought. Sally didn't mind. She waited for a while before asking. "And what's the second good news?"

Sirius' entire bearing changed. He was suddenly excited. He sprung up from the couch, still holding one of her ankles. She yelped, dragged down to the couch, one leg above her.

"Sirius!"

"Whoops! Sorry about that. Hey, you're not wearing a hose?"

"What? Stockings? No! And will you let go of my foot?"

He grinned, dropping her leg and pulled her up by her hand. She nearly crashed into him. He had to take a step back to steady them.

"Someone's been working out." She whispered. He kissed her.

"Just a bit. Dueling's necessary if you're in a secret organization, you know?"

Sally laughed as he gestured her towards the hearth. They flooed to Grimmauld Place. The house was empty and warm. The heating charms were working. Sally looked around, realizing something.

"Wait, did you see Percy and Nico today?"

"Hmm? No. Won't they be in school?"

"Their classes are done by three." She said, worried.

Sirius offered her an understanding look. "If they're not there by the time we get back, we can drop by Goode. I'm sure they're just hanging out with new friends?"

Sally nodded. "Of course. That's probably it."

He led her upstairs to the top floor. Sally caught the sight of the attic door but Sirius showed her the second door that had never been talked about.

"This room had a lot of old junk like paintings and jewellery. It probably even costs a lot, but we put them in the cellar for now. Don't tell Dung, he'll try to pawn them off."

Sally mimed zipping her lips. Sirius flicked his wand at the door and it opened with a click. He pushed it inside and switched on the light.

The room was mostly empty. There was a freshly cleaned window at one end with bright blue curtains. It gave the whole space a soft and fresh impression. The room had obviously been cleaned. Sally could even smell a faint fruity scent in the air.

"This is a secret." Sirius said, eyes shining. He was looking to the side where there was a large shape of a bed sheet that hid something from them. But Sally immediately knew what it was.

"Sirius! Did you really?!" She said excitedly, walking towards the mass.

"Of course I did! What teenage boy doesn't know how to ride a bike?" Sirius said, his tone shifting into pride and almost arrogance. He lifted the sheet off and revealed a shiny, top notch gear shift bicycle. It's bars were painted red and brown, shiny like newly waxed mahogany wood. The handlebars were high and a little far from the seat. DJ would have to lean forwards. It was clearly meant for speed riding. It had a small bell on one side and a gear shift on the other.

"Sirius, is this a mountain bike?" Sally asked, looking at the tough ridges on the wheels.

"Probably. Store owner said it was their best."

Sally raised an eyebrow. "Won't it be a little too much for his first try?"

"I don't think it matters what kind of bike it is." Sirius said. "It's a not a broom that you could lose complete control of and could crash badly. He'll fall, obviously, but it won't be dangerous. Besides, he'll have a helmet on. He'll be fine."

Sally nodded. "You're the parent."

"I am the parent." Sirius agreed, looking stunned by the fact. She nudged his arm with her elbow.

"I think you're doing well."

He nodded, relieved. "Thanks. I was thinking this could be DJ's Christmas present. And the boys could share it, of course if he wanted. Do you think Harry would like a new guitar?"

"He likes his old one. It belonged to his mother, right?"

"Yes. Lily loved the thing. I think James had once tried autographing it. She practically bonked him on the head with it."

Sally smiled. "Wouldn't that hurt the guitar?"

He gave her a sly look. "Sisterhood and all that, eh? The guitar was fine. She'd put an Impervius charm on it. James's pride was in question, though."

"What's Impervius?"

"It repels general stuff. Can stop things from breaking too. I put a Stasis charm on the bike. Nothing will damage it. It's a good spell to have, especially when it's in a house like this. I don't trust Kreacher at all, now. He's too obedient."

Sirius threw the sheet back on the bike, arranging it properly.

"On buying Harry a guitar… I think he'd like to select one for himself." Sally suggested. "You could make a day of it. Get Remus, Harry and DJ and stroll around Diagon Alley in the vacation."

"Sounds like a good idea. My dear Sally, what would you like for Christmas?"

They walked out of the room and he shut the door. She swung around to face him. "I'd like something before Christmas. I know we barely have enough time. I need to go back home now. I'm finishing an article for work. And I know you have something else planned with the Order."

"We can still manage to spend time with each other." Sirius said, looking curious at what she had in mind. "Like right now. You're right, though. I have to go meet up with Rosalie."

Sally stood up straight and looked into his eyes. Without her boots, she was half a head shorter than him. "I want us to go out on a date. I want to spend a good number of hours, worrying about nothing and having fun with you."

Sirius coughed. "That won't be so easy –"

"I know." She sighed. "But I think we should try to set aside some time for ourselves. At least think about it?"

Sirius seemed unsure. He took her hands in his and they swung them lazily. He smiled. "I'll definitely think about it. But you know I'll be busy every night."

"We could go out for lunch as well."

"You have work and classes on the weekend."

She cocked her head. "I suppose I could skip one day…"

He leaned her head against hers, temples touching. "I wouldn't ask you to do that."

"I'm offering."

He smiled. "We'll work it out. Promise. Let's see if those boys are home. I could probably spare another half hour."

* * *

 **This felt like a filler, but it had some stuff that will be important later. Take note of the dreams, guys. Stay tuned!**

 **Q: Name the betrayers in the Percy Jackson and Harry Potter fandoms. (Let's stick to the mortals.)**

 **Cabba.**


	9. Traitor

**(15** **th** **May EDIT: Some might not see this, but my updates will dead slow – emphasis on the dead – this month, for sure. Sorry, but it's a bad writer's block and I'm travelling a lot this month… my bad!)**

 **A: I think we have a winner with Catie Cat. My focus was on Pettigrew, Silena and Luke. But you've branched out! Good job, Child of Dreams.**

 **Eagle Dreamer: I really wish I had a strict schedule for updates. But I'm pretty busy irl. My goal is to put up each chapter on Sundays. Once a week updating is also tough, so I can't always stick to it. As you can see, it's been pretty awful. I'm busy this summer.** _ **This month's updates will most definitely be late**_ **. But I will definitely finish this series. I swear.**

 **shadow7193: Thank you so much! It means a lot.**

 **Here you go, percyjacksonfan135.**

 **Warning: Some swearing.**

 **Listening to: Hit and Run by Breathe Carolina**

* * *

 _Friday, 7_ _th_ _, September.  
8:05 p.m. – Hogwarts._

"Harry?" Ron called, peeking into their dorm. "Hermione's already downstairs. Everyone's left for dinner."

"Hold on." Harry mumbled. He threw a few clothes into the air, wildly in search of a tiny bauble.

It should be here somewhere, he reasoned. He'd turned all his stuff inside out to find it. He'd completely forgotten about it while he was in London, but he hadn't taken it out at all, so it should be in his bag or trunk.

"What're you searching fo –"

"My knut!"

Harry started to take out his books and shake them, hoping for the small coin to fall off. Hedwig was perched on the window sill, looking worried. She stayed a safe distance from him. Ron stopped to his right and leaned against a bed post.

"Your nut? Which side?"

Harry gave him a withering glare. "My bronze coin, you git. I can't find it."

Ron nodded. "You're lucky coin?"

"Yes!"

"Now that you can't find it, is that unlucky or….?"

"You're a riot a minute, Ron. Just… get down here and help me."

Ron sighed but kneeled beside Harry to look through his bag. "Hey, you brought your… tele-phone?"

"Mobile phone." Harry corrected, absentminded. "I'm going to make it work in Hogwarts?"

"What for? You have Sirius' two way mirror, don't you?"

Harry shrugged, "It'll be fun."

Ron shook his head. "Harry, trust me. You of all people will find it the toughest to activate it."

Harry stopped searching. "What d'you mean?"

They stared at each other. Ron raised his eyebrows. "It's… don't you know?"

"Know what?"

Harry watched as Ron blinked in confusion. "Wait… you really don't know? You aren't pulling my leg or–"

He sat back and folded his arms. Ron sighed. "Your accidental magic. I mean, you must have noticed it."

"I don't do accidental magic! I'm fifteen!"

Ron grimaced. Harry huffed. Accidental magic generally happened to children usually below the ages of seven or at the most, eleven, before they received their school letters of acceptance. But Ron was staring at him as though it was obvious. Harry had excellent control over his magic and Core. Except when he got angry, but those were –"

"Mate." Ron whispered, as though there was someone else in the room. "Sometimes, when you get really stressed, I can see… I can see the flux. Around you."

"No." Harry muttered. "I'm fifteen. I'm not a bloody kid. I can control –"

"It's only when you're stressed." Ron repeated. "Like the time in Grimmauld Place? When Sirius and Snape nearly burnt the kitchen table? Yeah, I could see it then. It was just for a second, but it was pretty clear."

Harry frowned. "Could everyone see it?"

"I dunno about that. I saw it because I was looking over at the sauce on the stove that was right behind you. I remember that. There was the green and black – like glow, I guess, around your back. It was quick. It made the lights flicker."

Ron sat back on his heels to watch Harry process the information. It felt surreal. Harry knew he had small counts of uncontrolled magic, like the time he'd blown up Monster Marge. He'd made the lights flicker then too.

"Are you telling me that my magic is especially adverse to electricity?"

"Something like that."

Harry raised a hand to run it through his hair. That explained why his previous attempts to try alter the make up of mobiles failed in certain explosive ways. May be that's why people discouraged any kind of interaction between magic and electricity. May be a lot of them had seen their children react badly to muggle machinery and thus, stayed clear of it. Of course there were some whose magic was rather conducive with all kinds of machines. Harry had seen Dumbledore switch on the lights and fans in a room with just a wave of his hand.

It was bothersome.

"Damn." Harry muttered.

Ron looked apologetic as he clapped a hand on his shoulder. "You'll think of another way, I'm sure. Look, it's time. Cedric's gonna call any minute."

Harry shut his belongings, rather quiet. He'd have to tackle that another way, Ron was right. But he thought about the scene in the kitchen. He was definitely stressed. But as a wizard receiving training, he shouldn't have lost control, like that.

Green and black. Harry smiled as they went down the stairs. That was a nice combination. It reminded him of the scales of a garden snake he'd once seen. The green slashes on vivid black coat made the snake look like it would have been a hit at a night rave party.

Hermione was sitting on the rug, legs stretched towards the fire place. Crookshanks was napping on her lap, though his tail twitched every so often. She looked up at them as they sat down beside her.

"He hasn't called yet." She said, unsmiling. "It's fifteen past eight."

"When do aurors get to go home?" Ron asked, leaning against the front of the couch. "It's not exactly an eight to five job."

"Auror trainee." Harry muttered, staring at the unlit hearth. "They'll probably have irregular hours as well."

Hermione exhaled and shifted her legs as Crookshanks moved in his sleep, purring. "What took you so long?"

Ron gave Harry a dramatic head roll. The latter conceded. "I was searching for my knut."

"Pardon?"

Ron coughed. Harry gritted his teeth. "My lucky coin, Hermione. I can't find it."

"Oh! Oh, thank goodness. I mean, that's bad. When did you last see it?"

Harry let his head fall backwards onto the couch. He remembered having it at Camp. He'd hidden it in his bag after his encounter with the Oracle. But he had taken it out after they reached home. He definitely had taken it out afterwards. But had he left the house with it? It wasn't very clear. It felt like he could have…

Harry sat up, hands shaking. No… no, no, no,…

He'd had it the day they went to Diagon Alley. He remembered playing around with it as usual while looking at the guitar collection. He'd later slipped it in his pocket after he met Tonks' friend, Adalberto. After that, he remembered Ajax telling him that he'd body searched him and removed everything, including his wand, wallet, phone and his coin.

Harry swore loudly just as the heart lit up and Cedric's face emerged from the flames. Ron and Hermione jumped and stared at him and even the ex-student stared.

"I'm sorry that I'm late, Harry." Cedric said, startled. Harry buried his face in his hands.

"I'm gonna kill him. Next time I see him, he's dead. I'll rip his head off, bastard stole my knut!"

Cedric gave a surprised sound. Behind him, Ron and Hermione could hear someone choking on laughter.

Harry glared up at Cedric. "You're late!"

"Yeah… sorry. I have company."

The trio leaned forwards. "What? Then what was all the secrecy for?"

Cedric said. "It's more of a precaution. I didn't want to send you a letter by owl because I know they're all screened, especially when it comes to you. I can't risk that because… well, it's a good thing you're sitting down, it's going to take a while."

"Better make it fast, people finish eating by 8:40, at least." Ron said. "What's so important?"

"A lot. First off, let me introduce my friend to you, Zachariah Belstone. He's been helping me with this for a while."

Next to Cedric, another face appeared. Amidst the red flames, Harry could see blond curls and a sharp outline of the jaw. The newcomer grinned. "So this is what the Gryffindor common room looks like, eh?"

"What house were you in?" Hermione asked.

"Slytherin."

Harry, Ron and Hermione froze. Cedric gave a sigh, "Guys, it's fine. I trust him. And house distinctions are the least of our worries now. Like you said, Ron, we don't have enough time, so let's get to it."

Cedric gave them a brief explanation about what he'd been faced with since joining the Aurors.

"It starts with a whole lot of paperwork and practice. The dueling, the fighting. But last week, Zach and I went on our first mission. It was a group raid in Borgin and Burkes. Someone had tipped us off that there were death eaters planning to meet up there."

"Who gave you the tip? Did you catch anyone?" Harry jumped in.

"Wait a minute?" Hermione interrupted. "Why are you telling us about your suspicions? You're working for the Aurors!"

Zach sighed. "See, this is the problem with non-linear narratives. People find it so hard to understand until we reach a certain snippet that pieces everything together."

Cedric tilted his head. "Alright. Fine. As of late, there's been a lot of commotion within the Ministry. Fudge keeps locking himself up in his office with secret meetings and Bones and Umbridge can't meet eye-to-eye on anything. The Prophet isn't giving all the details and the only people who really know everything are the DMLE because they're the worst gossips you'll ever meet."

"Could you get to the point?" Ron asked.

Cedric sat up and the flames went higher. "The Unspeakables went on a strike yesterday."

"… what?"

"The Unspeakables! They work in the Department of Mysteries. It's a secure facility within the main building." He explained. "It started with Lucius Malfoy's involvement in the Wizengamot's decision on upgrade security. He isn't part of the staff but has a lot of leeway and that caused a problem on its own."

"Malfoy's a Death Eater." Harry said immediately.

"Yeah, we figured." Zach nodded. "The first war ended with him being cleared of all charges, but many aurors still had a lot of suspicion on certain people. That's not the point, though!"

"The point is, people are on high alert." Cedric continued. "Everyone knows that You-Know-Who and his supporters are out and about and now people are suspecting Ministry workers as well."

"So, what's the problem?" Hermione asked anxiously. "Isn't that a good thing that people aren't dropping their guards?"

"Well, for one, it's not good for anyone to keep suspecting everyone around them. It lowers the moral. And another, it causes a lot of mistrust between close associates. This morning, two Wizengamot officials resigned. The papers won't print it unless they have some excuse that won't scare everyone."

Cedric shared a look with Zach before inhaling deeply. "And, we know about the Order."

Harry flinched. Hermione stared and Ron groaned. The secret of the Order couldn't have just slipped. Something big must have happened. But Sirius or Remus hadn't said a word and Dumbledore and McGonagall didn't seem to act out of place either.

"We know Dumbledore had a secret group that actively stood up to You-Know-Who." Zach said. "There were all sorts of rumours flying today that the group is back. I heard from the cleaning staff that it was called the _Order of the Phoenix_ , but that's such a pretentious name that I dismissed it. But everyone keeps whispering about it and it's not an easy thing to ignore."

The trio stayed silent. Cedric sighed and Zach made a face like he'd tasted something sour.

"Where did the rumours start from?" Hermione whispered.

"Not sure. It sprung up about midday. But I remember Widdershins spouting nonsense about secret groups nearly two weeks ago. He was arrested for… some pranks, but he had a lot to say." Zach muttered. "Now, we're telling you this because we don't know who the Order comprises, but it's clear that you know."

Harry cursed silently. He thought he knew where this was going.

"We're not in a secret group, if that's what you think." Ron said, narrowing his eyes.

"We're sure you know the people who are in the secret group aforementioned." Zach snapped.

Hermione exhaled. Harry caught her move her head, out of the corner of his eye. He wished she didn't. It made it more obvious that they did know the Order and its members.

"What do you want?" Harry finally asked.

Cedric nodded. "Just… ask them if they'd be willing to recruit people."

Ron leaned, surprised. "You want to join?"

"He wants to fight." Zach corrected. "Hero boy here, wants to give You-Know-Who the ol' one and two."

"What?" Hermione exclaimed. "Cedric, that's dangerous!"

"It's not like that!" Cedric countered, giving Zach a glare. "Being an Auror trainee is great and all, if you exclude the mound of paperwork the actual aurors are giving us because they're too lazy, but I can really help make a difference. I mean, just tell someone from the Order to at least consider me."

"Cedric…" Harry's voice went quiet. "Have you really thought about this?"

"Yes. Harry, don't worry. I know –"

"Does Cho know?"

Cedric winced. "Um, I haven't told her about the rumours…"

Harry tried to put himself in Cedric's place. Being a Triwizard champion and winner, choosing a vocation of auror, having to put up with dealing with the reality of danger and acknowledging it, wanting to do something about it. At least, he was eighteen and could do something. Sirius had specifically forbidden Harry from actively participating in any Order meetings except for the once that he absolutely needed because he was one of Voldemort's top targets.

On the other hand, Zach seemed to be tagging along. If he was smart enough to figure out what the rumours meant and brave enough to join in with Cedric in the floo call, he could be a member, no problem. Harry didn't know him, though. But he trusted Cedric.

"I'll talk to them." He told the trainees. Ron shrugged and Hermione seemed resigned. "It'll be up to them, so don't put your hopes up."

Considering that Tonks was in the Order, Cedric might be able to get in as well. But Tonks was well trained and had exceptional skills despite her age. Not to mention, she was recommended by Mad-Eye, which alone spoke of her abilities. They might turn down Cedric just because he was too nice.

"You know, we thought you had some secret information that you wanted to share with us." Ron said, offhandedly, obviously disappointed with the lack of scandal. Or, maybe that was Harry.

Zach chortled. "Cedric, you haven't told them the best part."

"You were the one who said, 'linear narra – ' oh, fine. Rita Skeeter showed up yesterday."

Now it was interesting. Hermione sat up, having harboured a complete hate relationship with her.

"What did she do?"

"Her usual bull. Skeeter always knows when and where to show up. It's like a gift, I swear. I won't be surprised if there's a new article by her in the Prophet within a few days, completely mummifying all the stuff happening now." Zach vented.

"Yeah, but who did she talk to?" Hermione insisted.

Cedric frowned. "I know she tried to question Malfoy, but he left the moment he saw her. I get the feeling she was there about the Unspeakables, but no one outside the Ministry knew that. It's popular now, but everything was hushed up yesterday."

Suddenly, Zach's face disappeared from the flames. Harry sat up as Cedric turned around. "Damn. We need to go. Let me know about the Order through Cho. But don't tell her the exact thing!"

"Alright. Bye, Ced." They leaned back as Cedric too left the call and the fire died.

Ron coughed again, rubbing the side of his face roughly. He looked done with the conversation.

"How could the secret get out this fast?" Hermione asked, thinking in a furious pace. She was still staring at the hearth.

"Someone must have let it slip. My gold is on Dung." Ron hit the floor with his fist.

Harry stood up, walked towards the portrait hole and then walked to the boys' staircase. He turned and repeated the pattern a few times. "Unspeakables work in the Department of Mysteries, he said?"

Hermione looked up. "Yes. I met them. They're very serious about their work. I was at the Ministry for my Core evaluation. They don't have names on their identifications and all they did was ask questions and test my range. There were healers who did the rest."

"Same thing with me." Ron nodded. "I don't think they even spoke with me. Well, one did. But the others were like the suits of armour in the castle. They just stood there and watched. It was creepy as hell."

"What exactly is the Department of Mysteries?"

"All I know is that they do a lot of experimentation down there. No one knows for sure. Unless you work there, you won't have clearance." Hermione said.

"So… if two Wizengamot officials have quit, shouldn't we have already heard about it on the wireless? What if it's being hushed up?" Harry reasoned.

"Unless Skeeter weeds it out of them." Ron pointed out.

"It's strange." Hermione frowned. "How could she know? She was there the day they'd resigned. Cedric's right. It's like she knows the right things. It's like she knows where from to get her information."

"What? Like she spies on people?" Harry asked, still pacing around.

"Like…" Hermione's eyes widened. "A spy?"

Ron blinked. "Skeeter, a spy? Who for?"

"No, not Skeeter! The person who slipped the secret of the Order!"

Harry stopped in his tracks. "A spy? In the Order?"

"Bloody – " Ron cut himself off. "You don't think…"

Hermione stood up, hair in disarray. "As far as I know, we're still not sure who let Voldemort into the grounds during the third task. We don't even know who put your name in the Goblet of Fire!"

"Crap."

"And remember Sirius and Remus talking about the thing in… in Italy?" Hermione asked Ron. "They were talking about not wanting to trust _him_. They were talking about someone in the Order!"

"What? I don't know this." Harry said.

Ron turned to him and stood up to plop himself onto the couch. "I'd flooed Hermione over the summer after you were in the hospital. My parents said that they weren't letting anyone outside family visit you and we were thinking of sending you some stuff together when I heard Sirius and Remus apparate into the yard."

Harry was surprised at that. He didn't know Sirius had gone to the Burrow. In fact, he didn't know Remus or him were well acquainted with the Weasleys.

"Why were they there?"

"Something about Italy. They wanted to get a clock made, like the one we have. That and they wanted to complain about Dumbledore. Something about a weapon."

"What weapon?"

Ron shrugged. "That's all they said. Something about 'removing the weapon'. They didn't explain because my parents knew what they were talking about. Sirius was talking about Dumbledore's far reaching plan and how it didn't work for him. They were talking about not wanting to trust him and one other person."

Harry shifted, scuffing his feet on the ground. "That might be Snape. Dumbledore's always trusted him. Sirius hates him."

"Oh." Ron said, looking deflated. "I guess so… But Snape's too obvious a spy. And remember we did accuse him once and we were wrong."

"It's like you want Mundungus to be the spy." Hermione said exasperated. "But, wait. Does this actually mean that there is a … a traitor?"

Harry felt a shiver go down his spine. To think that there may be someone who could dismantle the entire Order…

"Snape wasn't there… he wasn't with Voldemort that night." Harry told them. "There were about ten Death Eaters, I think. They were in masks, but none of them were Snape, I remember that much."

They stared at each other solemnly. Harry knew what the other two were thinking. The likelihood that there was a spy… it was unpleasant to think of it. He wanted them to be wrong. But it couldn't be an accident that the Ministry was aware of the Order now. What if the wrong people knew who exactly were in the Order? Kingsley and Tonks, Amelia Bones and a few others who worked there would be in danger. There was a reason why it was supposed to be a secret.

Voldemort wasn't even in the country and he was already causing havoc.

* * *

 _Friday, 14 September_

Two weeks in and Percy thought that school wasn't so bad as before. It probably had something to do with a new imaginary friend whispering helpful tips on how to take notes. Tom was excellent at reading. For the first time, the numbers actually stayed motionless on the pages of his textbook. Even after a lot of prodding, nothing moved and Percy nearly started to giggle. Tom would raise an eyebrow like 'really? Pay attention!'

The first week of the term was filled with the usual out-of-place sensation that he'd always felt. The strangest things to happen were his dreams where Tom was present without fail.

And one morning, he showed up in class.

For some reason, Percy didn't feel too alarmed. Students were walking in dropping into their seats and Tom, taller than anyone, strolls right to the back where Percy (for once) reached pretty early. Tom winked. Percy blinked.

He didn't question it.

It had felt like a dream. Not a demigod one, just a regular nonsensical dream where he'd doubt nothing and went along with whatever ridiculous scenario happened.

Years ago, he remembered sitting on a lawn chair o a large ship, sailing away from England. Flo had appeared pretty much out of nowhere. Percy had missed Harry so much that he was glad for interaction with someone who understood.

Now, Tom's presence was apparently the same. Sudden and natural. He integrated himself into Percy's life by helping him with the assignments, repeating what the teachers asked and helping him look through the dyslexia to understand what was written. The second week was different by a large margin.

Percy felt so buoyant that that Friday, he was bouncing on his feet by the gates, waiting for Nico. Tom had disappeared the moment the last bell had rung. Percy loved his mind. Apparently, it was creative enough to come up with a study buddy who practically did all the work for him.

Rachel stood next to him. She had no clue about Tom's existence. No one did. He was invisible to them.

"So…" Rachel muttered. Percy nodded, not really paying attention. Nico was running late.

"Soccer season's starting pretty soon." Rachel said. "I'm planning to go for try outs."

"Hmm?" Percy said, turning towards her. "Cool. Are you any good?"

"Yeah! I mean, I've never played in a team, but I've always been good with solo shots and stuff." She shrugged. "Can't hurt to try, right?"

"No." He agreed, turning towards the middle school building. The crowd of kids leaving had reduced but he still couldn't see Nico. They always walked home together. Percy's good mood started to filter away. Had something happened?

"Okay! So, I'm going for it next Saturday!" Rachel chirped. "Say, would you like to… you know… come along? Like, just for company –"

"Where is he?" Percy asked, standing on his toes and leaning, trying to catch any sight of his cousin. A stony feeling developed in the pit of his stomach. They'd gone two weeks without any monster incidents. What if something happened?

"I'm sure he's fin – "

Just then, they spotted a small group of kids stumble out of the building. Two of them were holding onto a boy in the middle and Percy swore that he could see blood on Nico's face all the way from where they were standing.

Rachel swore while Percy was already heading towards them. Nico was walking fine, but his face looked bruised enough to set off alarm bells.

"Nico!" he called jogging over to the fifth graders. They kids looked up, surprised to see a high school teen acknowledge them.

"Hey." Nico muttered, turning away quickly, but Percy caught a black eye and nose bleed. He clenched his fists. Monsters usually didn't punch demigods in the face. They had claws. This was a mortal fight.

Oh gods, Nico got into a school yard fight.

"You need ice." Rachel said, catching up to them. Nico grimaced and sat down on one of the outdoor lunch table and seats.

"What happened?"

Nico shrugged, looking at his feet. Percy exhaled, looking around to his friends. Nico had enjoyed school considerably. He hadn't had any complaints since the first day and everyone thought it was going well.

"It's my fault." A boy next to Nico muttered. He had large brown bangs that seemed to cover half his pale face and had prominent Mongolian features. Percy stared until he realized that the kid looked painfully shy. He had a perfect New York accent and could not look Percy in the eye.

"It's not your fault Ashley!" A girl on the other side of Nico argued. She looked like she was ready to fight someone. "It was that stupid dick!"

Rachel chuckled. Percy coughed. "Er… who?"

"Dick! He's a real jerk. And yeah, that's his name!" She said.

"Richard does not know that other people exist." Nico said, finally looking up. Percy tried not to wince. His nose looked out of alignment as well. It looked a little swollen.

"Ok, forget Richard. You need ice." Percy said firmly. "The nurse's station might still be open."

"It's not. We checked. And the cafeteria's closed too." Ashley said, apologetically.

Rachel reached into her bag for a pack of wet tissues. "I could drop you off. I'm going by car."

"It's fine." Nico said accepting the tissue and dodging Percy's outstretched hand that had been about to inspect his face. "I can walk."

"But –"

Nico looked at Percy pointedly.

"Er, it's fine, Rachel. It's only twenty minutes." Percy conceded. Nico got up and Percy took his bag.

"I think your nose is broken." Another kid said, biting his lip. Nico shook his head.

"Nah. It just looks bad. It's not hurting much. Dick can't throw a punch to save his life."

"Maybe. But go to a doctor, please. Plus, next week is gonna be awful." The girl said.

"Why?" Percy asked. Even Nico looked curious.

She leaned her head forwards. "Dick's brother is not going to take it lying down. He's a freakin' Junior! Last year, Ray talked back to Dick and Ward went all Hulk on him and got suspended!"

"Ward Forsythe?" Rachel said, incredulous. "Damn, he's on the Football team. I've seen him knock three guys in one tackle."

Percy sighed. "Okay. That's nice. Nico, let's get you home."

"Bye." Nico told his friends. They waved back.

Percy fit his skateboard half way into his own bag and slung it beside Nico's on his shoulder. They left the campus and reached the main road. Once they were out of sight of the others, Nico said. "Side pouch. One square."

Percy frowned. "Nico, I really want you to heal, but if you go back on Monday without a mark on your face, people will ask questions."

Nico groaned. "Stupid Dick!"

A pedestrian walking in the opposite direction looked down his nose at Nico. Nico huffed and kept walking. "Sorry." Percy said. Then he tilted his head and said. "Actually, we can just put a band aid on you for Monday. Here you go."

He reached for the Ambrosia square in the subtly marked space inside the pouch. It was one of the many well hidden slots in the bag that one couldn't find unless they knew what they were looking for.

Nico held the tissue to his eye as he chewed. Percy watched as the swelling of his nose went down.

"So…. what happened?"

Nico heaved a dramatic sigh. "It was nothing! Ash, me and Denise were talking about our homework because we got grouped for a project and Dick's just there pushing Ash around. He's been doing that for years because his parents are rich and all. He started yelling all those curse words that Harry stopped saying. Except when Dick says it it's a whole lot worse. So I tripped him."

Nico said it in a matter of fact tone. Percy had a feeling that rooming with Harry had its downside after all.

"Well, D – Richard, I mean, was wrong. I'm glad you stopped him. I was wondering –"

"How I let him hit me?" Nico's voice soured.

"Hey, that's not it. I meant, well, you're faster than –"

"Regular mortal, yeah I know. He just caught me off guard. But I socked it to him right in the gut and he started crying!"

Percy tried to smile. "That's good…"

Nico looked a little dismayed. "He started it. Ash really looked scared. I couldn't just let –"

"No, Nico, you're right. Richard's a bully. He has no right to make anyone so upset. I'm glad you stood up to him. Tell me about your friends."

Percy smiled as Nico explained about Ashley Tenzin, Denise Luca and Gil Oren, all of whom sat around Nico in homeroom every day. He seemed to have gotten along with them quite easily.

"And Gil has two moms! It's so awesome. He told us all about his adoption and then I told him I'm adopted too and Gil, Denise and Ash have been friends since first grade. Did you know Denise can do a hand stand? I wanna learn how…"

Percy was listening intently all the way home. Nico had switched from surly defender to hyper super fan. They reached the apartment and took the lift. Nico was still explaining about the month's project when Tom leaned in and whispered. " _Ward Forsythe will come after him_."

Percy kept nodding and smiling at Nico. _I know._

" _What will you do?"_

Percy stared at the reflective doors of the elevator in which he could see Tom's profile.

"I'm hungry. Didn't Remus say he'd make tea? Let's go to Frost."

 _What can I do?_

"Sure."

" _Nico knows the rules. Your 'demigod' status won't help. He can't beat up someone of Forsythe's stature and make it look realistic_."

Sally wasn't home yet. Percy and Nico dropped their bags in their room and used the heart to Floo to Frost. They were hit with the usual disorientation. Percy dusted the soot off of him and they headed for the kitchen.

Rosalie and Remus were at the table with tea and 'chips.' Nico happily attacked the plate.

"Just in time for dinner." Rosalie said, amused. She held a blood red lollipop in her hand. Percy stared at it, wondering if that was what he thought it was.

"Nico." Remus said, a little worried. "You'll choke."

" 'M fimf."

" _The teachers won't help. If Forsythe's parents really has power_ –"

"Will you stop that?" Percy whispered. Unfortunately, the werewolf and vampire senses caught him and Remus and Rosalie turned to look at him curiously.

"Stop what?" She asked.

"Um… there's a buzzing in my ear."

Tom was standing right next to Percy. It was amazing how no one else could see him. He was helpful with school stuff, but sometimes, his whispering just got on Percy's nerves. Tom always whispered even though no one could hear him. Percy's chest felt taut as he leaned away.

"That's from the hunger." Nico explained, pushing the plate towards him. Percy smiled.

" _What will you do?"_

Chiron had drilled it into their heads. The mist could only help so much. Nico's quick healing with Ambrosia was easily masked from the humans, but in a fist fight, there was no way Nico could disguise the fact that he could out-kick and out-punch the meanest of mortal bullies. Percy had been through petty fights, he had to get hit or else people watching…

What was he thinking?!

 _I'll tell Mr. Blofis_. Percy decided firmly. Goode was known for taking in troublesome kids and reducing violence. Of course they'd have a programme to work on even if it was with spoiled rich kids.

Tom stepped back from Percy's shoulder and faded from sight. Sometimes, Percy had to wonder at what age kids stopped having imaginary friends.

* * *

 **The reason why Percy's part is so short is that I don't have time. Next chapter will have more focus on Percy, Tom and Ginny… hopefully. But I got to introduce some proper plot and characters. Stay tuned, everyone!**

 **Q: Was Rita Skeeter ever arrested for her illegal Animagi status?**

 **Cabba.**


	10. Nightmares Closer to Home

**A: Rita Skeeter was never arrested for her multitude of crimes (that we know of).  
Sherlock Harry Winchester - You're right and thank you! It means so much to me!**

 **In canon, Grover sleeps for two months before Percy could wake him up, in the last Olympian, it's gonna be far longer here.**

 **When Tom and Percy talk, it's all in Percy's head. So their conversation is –** _"Tom"_ **and** _Percy_ **.**

 **Listening to: The Chain by Fleetwood Mac (remix by Hi-Finesse)**

 **This story is set in 2012.**

* * *

 _Monday 17_ _th_ _, September.  
12:30 p.m. – Goode._

When the bell rang, Percy blinked slowly, pulling himself from his sleep. It wasn't his fault. He'd been having the strangest dreams for the past few days and last night, he'd even realized that he was sleep-walking. The glaring hint was that he'd been bumping his head inside his closet. As of late, he'd been falling asleep in class to prove that he had a problem.

He looked around and saw the other students getting up and leaving while Mr. Blofis had raised his voice to explain about a term paper that they'd have to submit.

"You'll know where to find me if you have any doubts! There will be no extension on the submission dates!" He called out at the rapidly emptying classroom.

Percy stood up and picked up his bag from the floor. He hadn't even taken out his book for the class.

"Hey." A voice said and Percy nearly jumped. Rachel was standing right behind him, looking at him, quite curious.

"Oh! Hey, Rachel. 'Sup?"

"You look tired. I mean, you practically slept through the class and you still look ready to drop."

She raised her eyebrows like she was evaluating him. Percy rubbed the back of his neck, feeling cold all of the sudden. "You've been watching me sleep?"

"No! I mean, I tried to poke you awake, but that didn't seem to work." She blushed. "Your arm is solid."

Percy nodded, not really paying attention. Then he felt bad for not paying attention. But he was strangely tired. It must have been the weird nights. They walked towards the door. Mr. Blofis had already left, rushing out. Percy frowned, wondering what class he had next as he said, "What homework was he talking about?"

Rachel seemed glad for the new topic. "Our term paper for the course. We have to choose a book that falls under the historical fiction genre or at least revolves around a local event in history. We can go all out and choose books from another language. I guess that'll be fun for you. Have you read any Greek history from Camp?"

They were in the hallway now. About twenty students filled the space and Percy grumbled, "Say it louder, will you?"

Rachel rolled her eyes. "None of them will understand. Relax. Hey, not to be pushy, but you are coming to see me at the tryouts this Saturday, right?"

Percy tilted his head, wondering why his bag was so heavy. "What tryouts?"

Rachel's voice faltered. "The… soccer tryouts. I said I wanted to be part of… Goode's soccer team."

"Sure! When is it?"

"This Saturday, the 22nd." She said slowly, emphasizing each syllable. For some reason, Percy was annoyed at her exaggerated explanation. Did she think he was slow? He was sick of everyone assuming that.

"Saturday, uh? I'm not so sure. I'll let you know." He said in a casual voice. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her face fall.

"Hey, Rachel!" Somebody called her from behind and they turned around. One of the hefty Sophomores who had a face like a pigskin football, laces out, jogged up to them. He was the same height as Percy but had so much muscle that it didn't matter.

"Hey there, Hal." Rachel said, looking up at him, face lighting up again.

"Wanna sit with us for lunch? We always have a seat for you."

"Oh… that's nice, but I usually eat with Percy…"

Did she? Percy wondered in surprise. He thought hard and realized that most lunches they did sit together with a few other kids who hadn't found anyone to sit with in the cafeteria.

"That right?" Hal asked, looking at Percy, as though sizing him up. His narrow brown eyes were trained on him, but he immediately smiled. "Percy can sit with us too!"

"Percy can?" Rachel asked happily.

"Percy can?" Percy asked, frowning. He never did well with jocks, especially the socialites. They were the worst. May be, public schools were nicer than private ones. Yeah, right. Hal looked like he was doing Percy some charity service.

They left for lunch and Percy thought back to last Friday when Nico had gotten into a fight with a big-shot. So far, the building across the campus which housed the middle-schoolers was peaceful and didn't seem to have any raised noises. If Richard Forsythe really wanted to hurt Nico –

I'll hurt him first.

Percy blinked. He was sitting down next to Rachel at a large table with many other kids their age. He couldn't even remember entering the cafeteria. He looked down at his tray (when did he get his food? This was getting odd). He'd gotten noodles and some ketchup. Nothing too bad.

Percy looked around to see who was at the table. There was Hal to Rachel's left. Next to him were a few guys with similar football jerseys. There were a few girls in cheerleader outfits and some other students in regular clothes. They all looked high maintenance and Percy already started to feel out of place as they giggled and gossiped about the antics they'd done over the summer. While one girl started to talk about her gym membership, Tom leaned in and whispered into Percy's right ear.

 _Quite irksome, isn't it?_

Will you stop with the whispering? Percy thought, almost jumping from the suddenness.

Tom chuckled and said nothing else.

Rachel found her groove and was chatting amicably with the others. No one bothered to say a word to Percy and he was fine with that.

"… so pigheaded. Like, Ward can't ever let it go, can he?..."

Percy looked up. A guy and a girl were talking about Ward, Forsythe may be. Percy leaned his head in to hear them over the other conversations.

"Yeah, it's always Richy this and Richy that."

"I suppose that's cute? He's worried about his brother."

"His brother is a bully and Ward is psycho. Why do you think he doesn't sit here anymore? I kicked him out. If he wants to pick fights with little kids, then he has a serious problem."

Percy blanched. Nico's friends had warned him about Di – Richard's brother Ward… he gripped his fork tighter and frowned. What if he was over at the other building?

 _Probably is_. Tom muttered.

Percy dropped his fork and pushed his chair back. It screeched and caught everyone's attention.

"Excuse me." Percy muttered, grabbing his bag and forgetting his tray. He pushed through the doors that led outside onto the grass.

It's fine. It'll be fine. Nico can handle himself. Even against a six footer mortal. He was good in hand-to-hand combat. He's absolutely fine.

Percy started to sprint over the lawns and reached the biggest building in Goode's layout which housed the kids from first to ninth grade. The population of kids jumped up and Percy looked around, wondering where to head out first.

Nico's homeroom was on the second floor. Percy had never been to it, but there was no other better time to find out.

Unfortunately, there was nobody there. It was lunch time for everyone, it seemed. Some kids were loitering in the halls but none of them looked fifth grade level, so Percy just had to stop walking and reevaluate.

" _Do you want me to find him?"_

 _You can do that?_

Tom's lip turned up ever so light. It looked eerie.

" _Of course_." His voice, as it always did, was present only in Percy's head. It was like he'd put on a very expensive pair of headphones. "You will need to concentrate for me."

 _Concentrate on what?_

Tom closed his eyes. _"Think about who you want to find. Imagine him in all his entity, as real as he is. Think of the necessity to find him and focus with that intensity."_

The more he spoke, the clearer his voice was, soft and convincing. It was like Percy was stuck in a fog and the only thing solid was Tom.

His body turned to the right and his legs started to put themselves, one in front of the other. Percy was walking, not really all there, but focusing as much as he could on Nico. He made his way to the first floor, to the library that took up half the floor space. The librarian was not at his desk. Percy stood at the entrance.

Several shelves stood in rows with many books and very few kids. It was very quiet. There was a smell of dust from old books and the unsettled dust that lay on top of the shelves.

" _East corner."_

Percy stumbled, walking past the bookshelves, past the windows, turning to an even quieter section. There was a door marked 'Closet.'

" _Let's see."_ Tom muttered. He placed his hand on the door knob. Percy leaned against the wall, feeling strangely tired. It was strange. Walking had never tuckered him.

" _You have to concentrate a little more, Percy."_ Tom said with a frown.

Percy let out a breath and thought, _but he's in there, right?_

" _Yes –"_

"Nico?" Percy knocked on the door, softly enough to not get anyone's attention. Not that there was anyone in the hall, but the librarian could be anywhere.

There was a muted shuffling from the closet. Percy waited. There was a click and the door opened slowly.

Percy exhaled in relief when Nico's face popped out, looking quiet unharmed. Tom left his vision and Percy leaned down to clasp a hand on Nico's shoulder.

"Hey, you okay?"

"Yeah… how did you know?"

"Know… where you were, you mean?"

"No, I mean, how did you know something happened?"

"I have my ways." Percy said, making it sound careless and cool.

Nico smiled, but it dimmed soon enough.

"Are you hiding here?" Percy asked, realizing that it was probably serious.

"Kind of… um, Dick sort of came after Ash and me again. I … sort of kicked him… and now… he's with the nurse and um… Ward is looking for us."

Nico opened the door fully and Percy saw Ashley, Denise and Gil behind Nico, in the closet. The four kids looked even smaller in the tiny space.

"Ward's looking for you?" Percy asked, worried. He thought back to the conversation he'd heard in the cafeteria. "Did you actually see him?"

"It was pretty hard to miss someone when they're in their football jersey, steamrolling towards you like a train." Denise muttered. Ashley nodded with vigour and Gil simply looked sick.

Percy rubbed the back of his neck. "Alright, come on, I'm getting you to a teacher."

"But Dick will have said that Nico attacked him!" Ashley blurted.

"We'll figure something out." Percy said, trying not to sound too nervous. It was one thing to get into trouble with the mortals himself, but it was far more nerve wracking when it was someone else. Was this how his mom had felt for years? Trying to look out for him, but knowing that there would always be some conflict or the other?

He should do something for her. Like bake her cookies… or get Harry to bake her cookies… or just get her something...

There was a set of loud footsteps echoing from the corridor outside the library. The five of them stopped in their tracks and Percy immediately pushed an arm out, signaling the fifth graders to hide behind the shelves.

It was a good thing that they did because the figure that came into sight was quite startling. The newcomer was tall and hulking, dwarfing Hal by at least half a foot. Or maybe Percy felt the sight was exaggerating. The guy was dressed in his football jersey, looking like he'd come straight from the field with all the shoulder, elbow and knee pads. His face was large and sweaty like he'd been running around in the outfit searching for four tiny kids to pummel.

Percy really hated bullies.

Ward Forsythe stopped short at the sight of a freshman in the middle school library. His narrow eyes squinted at him. Percy his arm, thinking furiously at how to get him to leave the building without any bloodshed.

"Pretty sure you're in high school." Ward grunted. Even his voice was the voice of a bully.

"Yeah. You'd be right. And I think you're in high school too. So, let's go there, huh?"

Ward looked away, marching past him like he wasn't speaking. He was searching the place for Nico.

"You found 'im?" Someone asked from behind Percy. He turned around and saw a boy, about Nico's age, but built like a miniature Ward. His lower lip was swollen and he was leaning on his right leg. He wasn't exactly limping, which meant Nico hadn't put much force behind that kick.

"Um, hey! What are you looking for?" Percy called out, jogging after Ward. Nico and the others must have run back to the closet.

"None of your business!"

"Yeah, well, shouldn't you take your brother to the nurse, first?" He tried to negotiate, but Ward just spun around with a fierce frown.

Percy's hope that Ward was a stereotypical dumb jock/bully was shredded when the Junior stomped up to Percy and stared down at him, faces so close that Percy started to go cross-eyed.

"Say… you're that Jackson kid, aren't ya?"

What? Percy hadn't gotten into much trouble at Goode yet. How would others know him? He'd purposefully kept the socializing to the minimum.

"Er…"

"You know that di Angelo, don't ya?"

"di Angelo… rings a bell, yeah."

Ward flared at the response. He raised a finger and started to poke Percy's chest several times, punctuating his words, "You tell him to watch out because I'm gonna –"

"Okay, first of all!" Percy said loudly, interrupting him and pushing away the finger. "Stop that. It hurts. Second, you're not going to do anything –"

"You little – "

"Because it's not your job to punch kids. The fact that Nico and D – Richard got into a fight –"

"Two fights."

" – doesn't mean that we all have to go to war." Percy patted his shoulder, feeling rather cold when Ward looked further enraged.

"No one gets away with trying to hurt my little brother!"

"That's a good attitude. It really is. But Richard started it, didn't you Richy?"

"Nuh uh! He came after me! Brat!"

"Alright, so we have two opinions –" Percy began. But he saw Ward raise a fist and hurtle it towards his face. He dodged it with ease, twisting his body to the right. He was ready for something like this. There are several categories of bullies.

Ward represented the punch first, ask no questions, it would seem. At least they'd managed a tiny conversation. They hadn't gone anywhere with it, though.

Percy stepped back as Ward had both fists flying towards him. It wasn't a chore to escape getting hit. Percy promised himself to never throw the first punch and to keep the least number of mortals from getting hurt. He ducked another left hook and rolled away from range. Ward stopped, glaring at him. Before he could swear something, the librarian came in through the doors, probably having spotted a hurt student. He froze at the sight of Ward trying to hit Percy and yelled, " _What do you think you're doing?!"_

Apparently, Ward had a bit of a reputation of trying to goad people into fights and since Percy was new at Goode, they'd let him off and gave the older teen detention. Still, Nico was given a reprimand and was assigned detention with Richard. Both boys would have to help clear up some space in the old art room from three to four after school. Mr. Blofis had defended Nico but had also played devil's advocate, enforcing the zero tolerance policy on violence, even though Nico had employed only self defense in front of witnesses.

Percy had promised to wait for him for an hour after school so they could walk home together as usual. Sally hadn't been called for this, but Percy knew that she would have to be told about this. Nico would have to do that, so Percy dropped his bag on one of the tables on the lawn where some students sat during the lunch hour.

There were people milling about. Many were headed to the fields for what Percy assumed was tryouts for different sports. Percy wondered if he should go for something. It would be good for the future. Plus, it would be a good way to vent. May be swimming –

The air beside him shimmered and Percy stared in surprise as he recognized it as an Iris Message. He sat up and looked around but no one paid him any attention, not that there were many people in the area.

The rainbow appeared in the mist and a clear window emerged, showing him his girlfriend. Percy grinned, feeling a large amount of worry evaporate at the sight of her face alone. He'd just realized how much he missed her. He wished she was with him.

"Percy!"

"Hey, Annabeth! It's so good –" Percy stopped talking when he saw the anxious look on her face.

"Are you at home? At your apartment? Are you okay? Where are you? Are you fine?" She asked, words tumbling out.

"Hey, hey, I'm fine. I'm at school. At Goode. What's wrong?"

"You're alright? Are you sure? Have you encountered any monsters?"

Percy frowned. He hadn't gone out during the weekend. And the school had so many mortals, his and Nico's scents were diluted by a vast degree. Still, two children of the Big Three was no light matter. Annabeth looked like she'd been fretting about him as though he'd been attacked.

"Actually, it's been pretty quiet here. Nico and I are fine."

Annabeth let out a tensed exhale, pressing a palm to her forehead. She pushed back a few strands of her golden hair. Percy caught the grey streak against the other tendrils. He touched his own strands that stood out against his dark hair. She caught the movement and gave a small smile.

"What's wrong, Wise Girl? Did… are you okay? Did something –"

"No, I'm… alright. I'm calling because Chiron contacted me before I left for school. He said he couldn't reach you."

"He couldn't?" Percy leaned back in alarm. He looked around again. Nobody was in sight. He couldn't even feel anyone's gaze on him. It looked serene enough. "Why not? What's wrong? Wait, why did he try to call?"

"Um… it's just that… have you heard from Grover? Chiron said that Grover left after fighting with the Council of Clovin Elders and nobody's heard from him. Juniper said that something must have happened to him."

Percy's blood ran cold. He felt a hundred questions bubble up in his throat but his voice was gone from the shock.

 _Grover_ , Percy called out in his mind. They were connected by the mind link. They hadn't used it much as of late, but if something had happened to him, Percy would know. He should know. It would have been obvious. It had happened before. When Grover was caught by Polyphemus, Percy knew. Grover had said that if one of them died, the other would be comatose for life.

But Percy hadn't felt anything for weeks. They hadn't spoken since he'd left camp.

"Percy." Annabeth called out, firm. Her grey eyes softened at his obvious misery.

"I… I don't know… I can't feel anything… I can't feel him!"

 _Grover!_ Percy yelled. The thin but tough strings that were attached from mind to mind were silent. Percy reached out as much as he could but it was like leaning over a cliff to catch a glimpse of the ocean, or at least hear something in the dead of the night.

"Percy, look at me." Annabeth's voice broke to the panic and his eyes shot open. She was leaning towards the window. Percy leaned in as well wishing he could hold her.

"When did they last see him?"

"Friday evening. Lineus wanted to kick him out of the protector squad for 'spreading lies' about Pan's death. Grover scared them all about the war and having to prepare for it that the Elders dismissed him."

Percy groaned. "Urgh! Those old… Friday! Why didn't anyone call me?! Why didn't I know this? Grover didn't say anything about this to me!"

Annabeth looked sympathetic. "The satyrs didn't say anything because… well, they were all afraid of Grover's warning. But yesterday, Juniper told the other dryads that Grover hadn't met up with her. It was her mother's death anniversary. He'd promised to be there. She believes that he wouldn't have skipped out on her."

"He wouldn't." Percy confirmed. "Grover would never do that. But I can't reach him or locate him. What's the plan?"

"To tell the truth… you were last resort."

Percy stared at her. He blinked till her words exploded.

"Me! Annabeth, I'm the first resort to finding Grover! Last resort is… is to have someone actually track him down! Are the satyrs doing anything?"

"If it had been any other time… The Council are employing the protectors to find young demigods, many of them are deployed and busy. Chiron said he'd called Thalia to keep a look out for Grover and to check in on you."

"No one's been to see me since the summer." Percy said, worried.

"Well then, expect the Hunters at your doorstep today or tomorrow. The nature spirits have looked around Camp Half-Blood, but Grover's nowhere on Long Island."

Annabeth leaned beside a tiled wall and Percy realized that she was in the bathroom of what he guessed was her school. Right, time zones.

"We'll find him." Annabeth said. Her head was raised like she was commanding the universe to shift its path so that they could find Grover within the hour. Percy smiled.

"I wish I was with you. Or that you were here."

Annabeth's eyes gleamed, happy to cheer him even after the bad news.

"I miss you."

"Me too."

"I'll try to come over, some time. I'm getting sick of LA."

They talked for a bit and then cut the call before she needed to use another drachma. Percy closed his eyes, laid his head on the table in front of him and exhaled.

 _Tom?_

" _Hmm?"_

 _Could you –_

" _No."_

 _What? Why not?_

Tom put a foot on the desk beside Percy and leaned on it, tilting his head towards him.

" _It's a block. You can't reach through it. There's no point in wasting your energy."_

Percy glared at him. _I might be the only one who can find him._

Tom stared down, unflinching. His eyes were placid and firm. _"May be. But like I said, the mind link is temporarily useless. He is behind a wall that can't be broken through with brute force. If you keep pushing, it will only make the search more difficult."_

They stared at each other, trying to win the silent competition. Percy let out a sigh of aggravation. You're lying.

" _You think so? The power behind the mind – "_

 _Not that! You can help me, you just don't want to._

Percy saw a sharp glint in Tom's gaze. It shocked him. He was right. Tom was hiding something from him. He stood up, fists clenched. _What are you not saying? Why aren't you helping me?_

Tom chuckled. _"I think I've helped you enough for today."_

He disappeared from sight, leaving Percy stunned and speechless for several minutes.

* * *

"So, I told Sirius and Remus about Ced's request." Harry said in between bites.

Hermione wrinkled her nose. "You're getting as bad as Ron. What did they say?"

Dinner was a peaceful hour. Everyone gathered at the tables and it seemed like the year would be rather uneventful; in Hogwarts at least. The country was growing silent under the fear of Voldemort's reveal.

Hogwarts was like a bubble of assumed peace, though. News from the outside was through the papers, what the students heard from their families and Hogsmeade. But even the little village was under its presupposed happiness, with its physical proximity to the castle.

Harry, like the others, had absorbed the false atmosphere, but only on the surface. The problem was, staying at the castle didn't offer many opportunities to help with any Order work. The most he could do was attend the Occlumency sessions with Snape. Of course, there were the private lessons with Dumbledore, but no date had been set for that.

"No one can match up to Ron." Harry said. "Sirius said they'd have to check in with the other Aurors who were in the know. Remus thought they're too young."

"They are too young." Hermione emphasized. "I remember Belstone. He was part of the Charms Club for four years. He did the introductory sessions for everyone who wanted to join the club then. Hannah though he might go for a teacher's training course."

Harry tilted his head. "Wouldn't he be too young to be a teacher?"

She seemed to agree with him somewhat. "I suppose you'd be young for anything."

"Then maybe, eighteen isn't too young for… fighting."

She exhaled forcefully, frowning at his reasoning. Harry purposely looked away. They could go around in circles with this, but he'd rather not.

"You're still talking about that?" Ron said, finally having finished his shepherd's pie. He gave a small burp which made Hermione glower at him.

"Sorry." He caught her eye and continued. "I thought you'd be yammering about Dumbledore's lesson."

"Oh!" Hermione sat up straight and threw her hands to the side where her bag sat. She dug through it and unearthed a tome that must have weighed more than the pie Ron had had. Harry read the title – Confronting the Faceless.

She dropped the book on the table and flipped through it, pages flying in an arc. Harry shared a fond look with Ron.

"Look at this!" She whispered excitedly, stabbing a finger under a line in the middle of the page. Harry and Ron leaned in.

 _ **The materials used for talismans included bones, wood, stones and sometimes semi-precious gemstones. They could also be written on small pieces of papyrus or a metal sheet. They could be carried in a pouch or small container, or in small bags containing mixed herbs. And to complete the process, one had to invoke a god or goddess (usually Hecate), or multiple gods, and recite magical words of power.**_ **1**

"I thought it had something to do with the lesson." Ron pointed out. Harry pulled the text towards him to see the chapter overview. "You're not going to let this go are you?"

"Of course not!" Hermione said, indignant at the assumption. "It's a whole _new world_! But see, we have this book next year and it mentions ancient customs."

"They always talk about Hecate, not Prometheus." Harry said.

"Yes well, I'm still searching… are you sure you don't want to ask Dumbledore about this?"

Harry had decided long ago that the Order shouldn't start digging into the Greek gods. Since there was already speculations of a spy within the group, it would only lead to people actually discovering Camp Half-Blood. The more Harry thought about it, the worse he felt. Percy, Nico and Sally should have stayed in New York. They didn't have to be in Grimmauld place. They didn't have to stay there for the summer….

Except, they had to. They were seen during the Triwizard Tournament. People knew that Percy, whoever he was, was close to the Potters. Not to mention the whole debacle with… Rome.

He clenched his fists, breathing slowly.

"I didn't want to risk them to anything we may have missed." Harry muttered. "You can do all the research you want, Hermione. Just keep it under the wraps. No one else can know."

She nodded, looking down, but perked up when Ron started to speak.

"What was it you said about Prometheus? That he may have been the one to… _give us magic_?"

"Yes, it's an underrated theory –"

"For a good reason!" Ron exclaimed. "He's like a million years old! Magic is only three millennia… three thousand years old! Remember!"

"Shush!" Harry hissed but Hermione's eyes grew wide.

"I… oh dear… well yes, but…" She went still, thinking furiously and muttering intelligible things. Harry raised his eyebrows.

"It's like she's rebooting."

"Uh…"

Harry pushed away his plate of half eaten broth and looked at his watch. It had stopped again. "Ron, what's the time?"

"Almost eight thirty. Better get going. Dumbledore left some time back."

"May be it is Hecate… but…" Hermione was saying as Harry got up, grabbing his satchel. "I'll see you back in the Common Room. Or tomorrow."

"No dice." Ron said, waving his arm. "We'll wait."

Harry nodded, slinging his bag strap over his shoulders when Angelina Johnson strode up to him, waving a rolled up parchment in his face. Harry ducked to avoid getting hit.

"Whoops! Sorry, Harry."

"S'okay." He noticed a bright red pin attached to the front of her robes. "You're the House Captain!"

Angelina grinned. "Yes. Quidditch cup, here we come! I'm holding tryouts for a new keeper next week Monday at four. I want the whole team there. I've put up a notice on the board, but spread the word as much as you can. We have to find someone who fits in with the team. And I want you in peak performance, got it?"

"Got it, Skip." Harry mocked a salute. Angelina nodded seriously, "I'm not kidding. McGonagall said she doesn't want to share the Quidditch cup with anyone and I'm in agreement. We're going to train every chance you get. I know you're in your fifth year. It's not easy. I'm in the seventh and we're already falling apart."

She shook her head. "Just be ready. The Hufflepuffs have already scheduled the first training session on Wednesday. Slytherins have booked the pitch on Saturday and I'm sure the Ravenclaws already have a game plan."

"Ange, we'll work on it. No problem." Harry assured her.

"Good. And you better keep up your reputation as best amateur seeker in the UK. I don't care if you need to swallow the snitch again, you're going to catch it no matter what. Understood?"

"Under… stood…"

Angelina slapped his shoulder and walked passed him but Harry had frozen. The only images that came to his mind when she'd said 'snitch' was Ajax and a Greek Fire grenade.

* * *

 **This world is growing dangerous. Manchester, London, Qatar. Pray for something good. Work towards it.**

 **Cabba.**


	11. Fight, Flight, Freeze, Fawn

**brade1991: Oh gods! Summoning Prometheus? That would spin the story into a whole different trajectory. Sorry, that's not going to happen. But we will have a get together of demigods and witches and wizards, further on in the story.**

 **My stories are not going to have any smut. But if anyone is uncomfortable with the level of violence that it could have, tell me if I need to change the rating. Currently, it's T.**

 **Warning: Gory fight scene.**

 **Listening to: Heaven or Hell by Digital Daggers**

…

 _Monday 17_ _th_ _, Sept  
9:30 p.m. - Hogwarts_

Harry's head was throbbing. When he'd gone up to Dumbledore's office, Sirius, Alice and Frank were outside, waiting for him. He was surprised. He hadn't expected anyone else to join in the lesson.

But it wasn't exactly a lesson. In the office, McGonagall and Mad Eye were conversing with Dumbledore. All the portraits were wide awake and listening intently. Harry was sat down and given a crystal ball which shone just a little brighter than the ones in the Divination classroom.

 _The one with the power to vanquish the_ _Dark Lord_ _approaches ... Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies ... And the_ _Dark Lord_ _will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the_ _Dark Lord_ _knows not ..._

"I'm sorry, Harry." Sirius whispered to him when the realization set upon him. This was the reason why Voldemort had targeted his family. This was why the Potters died and why the Longbottoms were tortured. This was why Neville, DJ and he were left alone.

Harry thought about Rachel, taken away from them and adopted elsewhere. He struggled to think of it as a good thing. She was safe from all of this. That was a plus. Harry stared at the desk where the crystal ball sat, unassuming. It had a fog swirling inside glowing in bright points of blue and white. Harry felt nauseous.

"I had planned to take you through a history of Tom's deeds to better understand what he may attempt now and in the future. Starting with his family and his induction into Hogwarts." Dumbledore said, placing his palms flat on the desk. They sat opposite each other. McGonagall, Alice and Frank sat around the desk, silent and stiff. Mad-Eye was pacing about, hobbling around the room in deep thought. Sirius stood behind Harry's chair, grasping his shoulders tightly. It was somewhat comforting that they were with him, but it didn't help the savage energy of rage that was bubbling up in Harry's throat.

"Family?" Harry's voice sounded terrible. What sort of a family could Voldemort have had? It was too strange to even think about.

"It would probably be a waste of time –" Sirius began.

"It will help if he knows the details, Sirius." Dumbledore said, raising his head. His eyes regained a sliver of the twinkle that had disappeared while the prophecy was being played out.

Sirius turned away, exhaling in frustration. They'd clearly had this discussion several times.

"If you think it will help…" Alice muttered. "It's just that we may not have enough time."

Harry sat up straight. "Enough time for what?"

Mad Eye stopped walking. "A family in Germany was killed on Thursday. Authorities have confirmed that it was the killing curse. The Dark Mark was over the house, he's making no attempt to hide what he's up to."

Harry swiveled around in his chair to stare at the professor. "He's in Germany? Why did he kill them?"

"That information is not public yet." McGonagall said, glaring at Mad-Eye. "He's obviously searching for something we're not sure what."

Germany, he thought. On one hand, Harry was glad that he was nowhere near Britain. On the other, he felt guilty for wanting Voldemort to stay where he was. It wasn't right to anyone.

"But why… what is it about the prophecy that he wanted to know?" Harry asked, turning back to Dumbledore.

"As I understand it, Voldemort must have heard only a part of it. He was convinced of its authenticity and believed that the child born at the end of July would be his vanquisher. Strangely enough, there were two recipients who fit the categories."

Three, Harry thought, remembering Rachel. But the prophecy had said '… _will mark him as his equal…'_ Not to mention, if the powers that be had known that she was a squib with no magic to her name, everything would have fallen into place.

"You mean, Neville and me." Harry said, when he hadn't spoken up immediately. Neville's birthday was on the thirtieth, just a day before Harry's.

"I remember when we'd first heard it." Frank said. His voice was soft and his eyes were in the past. Alice took his hand. "On top of the rumours that the Ministry was collapsing, with the effect of the prophecy, it almost wasn't worth staying in Britain."

Harry grimaced. The government had been on the verge of collapsing? Things had been more desperate than he'd imagined.

"Once we'd found out who Voldemort had actually chosen, it was only a matter of time before he would strike. We thought we were prepared." Mad-Eye added. His voice was gruff and devoid of emotion. Harry avoided meeting his gaze but heard the electric blue eye stop whizzing around, probably staring at him.

"But why did he choose me? Not that I mean he should have targeted Neville…" Harry looked at Alice and Frank, eyes wide, but they smiled sadly.

"Once you've seen his past, it will make sense to you. He chose you believing there was more in common between the two of you than with Neville." Dumbledore hinted. He raised his eyebrows as though silently communicating something but Harry missed it altogether. Sirius seemed to sense this because he leaned down and whispered. "Voldemort is a half blood."

…

It was nearly ten when Harry left for the tower. Leaving the others in the office, Sirius accompanied him.

"I miss this place." Sirius said, fondly looking around the staircases. His godson didn't pay him any attention.

Harry's head had bits and pieces of the meeting's information flying around in it. Voldemort, a half-blood? It felt inconceivable, especially given his hatred of muggles and Muggleborns, his sorting into Slytherin, his regard for magic above everything else.

"Harry?" Sirius called.

"Hmm? Right. Yes."

Sirius coughed. "You weren't listening."

"Sorry."

"No. Don't apologize." Harry leaned against him when he lifted an arm to drape it over his shoulders. "You have every right to be worried."

"I don't want to worry."

"Still… It must have been a lot to take in."

Harry pressed his head against Sirius's shoulder. "I just… I don't like it. What made Voldemort think this prophecy is real? What if he didn't do anything about it? I didn't think Divination was all that effective."

They leapt over the trick step and continued slowly walking up the moving staircase. Sirius seemed to take his time with the answer.

"There are different types of divination techniques that are false and overrated but you find certain modes that do work. For example, you have the … demigod versions that work all the time it would seem."

Harry frowned. "Right. But I thought that's a different kind of magic altogether. Like another class of power."

"May be. It works here as well. And magic isn't just about the power behind the words. It's more about how much faith you have in it. The more you fear something, the stronger is its hold over you. Voldemort heard half the prophecy and immediately set about in making sure it wouldn't come true. And we know how that turned out."

His grip on Harry was tight. They reached the seventh floor. The portrait hole was in front of them. The Fat Lady had her eyes closed, leaning against her backdrop, breathing deeply. Sirius withdrew his arm and turned to look at Harry properly.

"Are you sleeping properly?"

The look on Harry's face seemed to answer the question. Sirius sighed.

"It's getting better." Harry said immediately. "The muscle relaxers are helping. I'm going to have Quidditch practice starting next week so I'll be tired enough to at least get a few hours."

"But?" Sirius prompted.

Harry looked away. "It's.. it's not easy. Sometimes I just stay in bed for hours waiting for the morning because I know I won't fall asleep. It's not that I have nightmares. I keep thinking about a dozen things. My head's too busy for me to sleep. Does that make sense?"

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "Somewhat. How are the Occlumency sessions?"

"The less said about that, the better."

"And Snape?"

Sirius' frowned at Harry's less than enthusiastic response to that. "It's not… too bad. I mean, it's working, I guess. I threw him off in the last session. But I'm always exhausted. And he doesn't say exactly how to block the mind. If it wasn't for the book, I'd be hopeless."

There was a long irritated exhale and Sirius shook his head. "You promised to call me when he was giving you a tough time."

"Snape always gives me a tough time. This isn't any different. It's taxing, but I think it's working."

Sirius folded his arms. "Why are you defending him?"

"I'm not! It's the truth."

Harry stared right back and Sirius watched him. It wasn't that the Occlumency sessions weren't helping. They were bad because it hurt every time someone invaded his mind. The fact that it hurt let Harry know that someone was there in his head. Snape had instructed to hold on to the pain and force the offending presence out using whatever concentration he needed. Sometimes, people couldn't even tell when there was someone who ought not to be in their minds. Harry had read about that. Silent intrusions (because Snape always glared when he said 'mind reading') were the worst ways to invade a person's mind. The victim never knew about the presence and the resulting damage can be the worst.

Harry knew someone who'd faced a silent intrusion. Ginny had spent nearly a year under Voldemort's control and she hadn't even known it for months. And seeing how violent she can get at the drop of a hat, there were obvious signs of long lasting effects of the possession. But she was better this year, Harry thought. She had positive interactions with Nico and their midnight raid of the kitchens had been fun and light hearted. Harry had thoroughly enjoyed it. She was good company. She was healing.

She was lucky. There were people who'd never recovered.

"Alright." Sirius said. His eyes had been narrowed as he'd contemplated Harry's words. But now he looked a little relaxed. "I believe you. Are you taking the potion tonight?"

Harry nodded. "It's the last dosage. After tonight, I'll be on my own."

Sirius pressed his lips together. "Harry, I want you to rethink Mantis."

Harry tried not to get annoyed. Sirius only said that to help him. "Fine. Oh, and the thing about Cedric…"

"Mad Eye is happy about more recruits." He said, looking at the silent castle. Most of the torches had blinked out except for the one in their sight. "We don't know who let slip about the Order to the Ministry, but people have been voicing their opinions. Tonks is supposed to talk to Cedric and Zach Beltsone. Let's see how that goes. And it's time for you to go to bed."

"Goodnight." Harry nodded. Sirius clapped a hand on his shoulder again, squeezing before gesturing Harry to say the password.

The Fat Lady wasn't pleased at being woken up. She let Harry in, muttering under her breath and staring stonily at Sirius who apologized for his unbecoming behavior of slashing her portrait two years ago. She slammed the portrait shut and Harry stood alone in the common room.

He'd hoped that Ginny would be waiting for him, though they hadn't talking after the last time. The fireplace was cold and the room was dark. Ron and Hermione were sprawled on the couch, asleep.

Harry woke them up but luckily they kept yawning. He hadn't wanted to tell them about everything. Not when he was just coming to terms with all of it himself. Hermione bid them goodnight and stumbled up to the girls' stairs while he and Ron dragged their feet towards their dorm.

Ron fell into bed without a word. He started snoring almost immediately. Harry sat on the bed, still in his uniform. He felt fatigue trying to take over his body but his mind was working at full speed. He opened the second drawer of his nightstand and stared at the single remaining vial of potion for his last night of decent sleep. The soft pink solution sloshed in its container, looking so inviting.

A whole range of emotions were warring in his head. His chest was tight and Harry focused on his breathing to calm down. After a while, he decided he needed to do something. Like break a mirror with his bare hands, or a rule or a law. Harry leaned down and pulled his trunk from underneath the bed. It made a loud sound but the other four boys slept on. Their snores didn't even falter.

Harry yanked the lid open after some force and pulled out his Invisibility cloak. Thankfully, he had the Marauders' Map as well. He didn't fancy sneaking into DJ dorm to take it.

"I solemnly swear I'm up to no good."

The map revealed itself in dark ink showing all the inhabitants of the castle. Sirius had gone back to Dumbledore's office where McGonagall and Dumbledore still remained. Mad-Eye, Alice and Frank must have left.

A reckless idea came to him. He dwelled on it briefly before pulling the cloak over him and pushing the trunk back under his bed.

Then he left the dorm, climbed out of the portrait hole, went down to McGonagall's office and used her floo to leave Hogwarts.

…

 _Monday, 17_ _th_ _September  
4:00 p.m. – Manhattan (An hour before Harry leaves)_

Percy was sitting on the lunch tables outside the buildings, motionless as a statute when Nico finished his detention and walked out. He was so unnaturally still and Nico thought there might have been a monster around and that Percy was trying to sense it.

He walked up to the teen, hand on the sheath of his sword, ready for a fight.

"Percy?"

Percy's body jerked away as he turned to look at him. Nico took a step back. There was a frightened look in his eyes.

"Hey, it's me! What's going on? What –"

Percy suddenly stood up, drawing out Riptide and clicking it. The sword grew to its full size, and Nico turned around to look at what Percy had seen.

There was a …something… behind the wall. Nico could here its growls now that he was hyper focused. A blue and black snake rose above the wall. The snake had to be about ten feet tall. It turned towards them and hissed. Nico drew out his Stygian sword. Below the snake, there was a loud growl.

"Not on the grounds." Percy whispered. He grabbed Nico by the bag and pulled him away, keeping an eye on the long and thin snake. It was still hovering above the wall glaring at them. They ran towards the back gate, intent on taking care of it behind the school. But the moment they were near the gate, the snake withdrew and a huge mass leaped over the wall and hit Percy head on.

"No!" Nico gasped. He had to dodge when the snake struck, but the snake was only the tail of the large animal. It was a huge two-headed dog, the size of a small horse. It was like a hellhound, but its pelt had blue mixed in along with the brown and black hairs. Its eyes were a terrible gold that reminded Nico of Kronos inhabiting Luke's body. The stench of wet dog was mixed with that of sulfur. It smelled like Mrs. O'Leary, but was nothing like her.

Its entire weight had crashed into Percy. He fell on his back with the monster's front paws on his chest. Riptide flew away from Percy and one of the dog's heads was salivating on Percy's right forearm which he had thrown forward to protect his face.

Nico lunged for its back, but the snake reared back and struck. Nico swung his bag in front of his body like a shield. The snake's fangs sunk into the tough material. Nico moved sideways and brought his sword down, cutting off half the snake.

One of the heads howled and looked up to glare at Nico. But the other ducked down to clamp its teeth into Percy's arm. It tightened its jaw and ripped out a chunk of flesh.

Percy screamed. Blood splattered everywhere and Nico watched in horror, almost freezing. The dog swallowed the shirt sleeve that was torn along with the flesh. The second head bent and closed its jaw over Percy's left shoulder.

Nico leaned forwards and charged. He was tiny compared to the monster but his momentum made an impact when he crashed into its side, managing to push most of its weight off of Percy. The grip of its jaw on Percy's shoulder slackened by a bit, but it was enough. Percy bent his legs and pushed the creature completely off of him. His dagger appeared in his left palm and he slammed the blade into the closest head's throat.

It wasn't enough to kill him. Nico pulled Percy away from dog, standing in front of him and holding his sword, threatening. The monster managed to pull itself up to its feet but it was stumbling from the offset balance of losing its tail.

Suddenly it lunged again and though Nico's instincts told him to jump away, he didn't. It was a huge form and the logical thing would be to move out of its way and tire it out but Percy was right behind Nico. Instead, Nico clasped the handle of his sword with both hands and struck it directly upwards as the monster landed on him.

He heard Percy yelling out his name just before a thousand pounds of dog fell on him, impaled by the sword in the chest.

Nico fell to the ground. The weight had crushed him for a second before it disappeared in a black mist of sulfur. His sword seemed to burn the air around it as it devoured the monster completely. Percy's dagger fell to the grass. Nico shuffled on his back closer to Percy to breathe away from the stench.

"Ni…Nico! Gods!Are… are you… okay?" Percy stammered, holding his arm gingerly. His eyes were shut tight. He was trying to hold in his whimpers but Nico saw the wound bleeding freely. It was terrible. He could see the bone. It was a light red, absorbing the blood all over it.

There was a loud bark from the other side of the wall. Nico's head snapped up. He held his sword tight, ready.

Mrs. O'Leary jumped over the wall. She was much larger than the monster had been but Nico relaxed immediately. Better yet, there was someone familiar sitting right behind the hound's neck.

"Bianca!" Nico cried.

Bianca looked the same. She looked twelve and wore form fitting clothes perfect for constant fighting. Her bow and quiver were slung on her back and her hair was tied into a tight braid. She was healthy and glowing, her skin was darker than Nico's. Her eyes were the same as her brother's. She ran towards him.

Nico engulfed her in a hug and she held him as firmly as she could. "Oh thank gods! Nico! I thought I was too late!"

"You _are_ late." Percy said through his teeth. He was still on the ground. Mrs. O'Leary started to whine as she sniffed him. She looked seconds away from crying.

"Wait, I have ambrosia." Bianca pulled out a pouch from one of her pockets. It was magic because there was no way that a piggy bank sized pouch could fit so easily in a pocket that small.

"What happened to your arm?" Nico asked, worried. There was a deep gash on her upper arm. Bianca shrugged.

" _Katobleps_ happened. Don't worry, I took care of it. It's not regenerating any time soon." She kneeled next to Percy and left his head carefully, slipping a square of ambrosia into his mouth. He swallowed it directly and took a deep breath. Nico could see the skin knitting itself over the bloody open wound. Bianca gave him another square and waited till his arm had fully re-grown the skin. It still looked tender and Percy couldn't touch it without flinching.

"Where are the other Hunters?" Nico asked as Percy sat, looking better. "You didn't come alone, did you?"

Bianca rolled her eyes. "Jeez Nico, I can take care of myself."

"You're bleeding!"

"Have you even met a Katobleps? It kills with a single gaze and its breath is so bad it could knock out the king of the Titans, himself. I killed it within half a minute."

"Could you stop saying the name?" Percy said weakly. Nico nodded. All three of them were children of the Big Three. Nothing good would come out of saying names aloud.

"What got you?" She asked, standing up and helping Percy to his feet. Nico picked up his dagger for him.

"Dunno. It had two heads. It was a dog but it was huge –"

"Snake tail?"

Nico nodded. Bianca hummed. "Orthrus. Not a pretty puppy."

"Bi, please!"

She grinned at Nico's nickname for her. He hadn't said it in a long time, but of course that was because they haven't seen each other in months. The Iris Messages had been too sparse.

Percy was still panting. Nico looked towards him and then realized that he was completely out of breath. "Percy, where's your inhaler?"

The son of Poseidon gestured to the bag and Nico retrieved it from where it had fallen. The little device was in the side pocket and he and Bianca watched in fascination as Percy shook it and pumped a hit. It looked like magic too because he was suddenly breathing better.

"Thalia said you had this problem." Bianca said thoughtfully.

"Heh heh, yeah. Annabeth said you'd be coming." Percy said, his voice was a little hoarse.

"Really?" Nico frowned. "You didn't tell me."

"She'd IM'ed during detention." He explained.

"Right. Thalia went berserk when she heard about Grover." Bianca nodded.

"What about Grover? Did something happen?" Nico asked, feeling frustrated.

Mrs. O'Leary bumped her nose into Percy's side. He teetered, almost losing his balance. "Careful, girl! Grover… Grover's missing. And I can't find him."

"What?" Nico's eyes went wide. He was still holding on to his sword and the weight of it helped steady him, but the news was startling.

The first thing anyone would do if they heard that Grover was missing would be to check the mess hall. After that, they'd call Percy, because Percy would know. They had a mind link, Nico knew. They keep contact when everything else failed. The only reason that Percy would not be able to reach him would be if the link was gone or Grover simply stopped existing.

"Is there something wrong with the mind link?" Nico asked.

Percy grimaced. Nico flushed as he regretted asking that. He was already in pain, Nico shouldn't have asked something that was clearly distressing him.

"I'm not sure." Percy looked at Nico and then at Bianca. It was clear that he was close to panicking. Mrs. O'Leary carefully sniffed at his face, taking care to not push him. He took another hit from the inhaler.

"I know the link is there. I can feel it. I can't feel him, though. It's like there's a fog that's separating us."

"A fog?" Bianca said. "So, not a complete block?"

Percy rubbed the back of his neck. "It's not a block, exactly. It's like… he isn't close. Like someone's stretched the link and he's really far away."

"He's hidden, then." She surmised. "It can't be normal. But he's not hurt either, or you'd be able to tell. Unless there is a block and you can't sense that."

Percy groaned. "You're not helping, Bianca."

"Hmm." She said, looking around. "This is your school? Neat."

Mrs. O'Leary whined again and Percy reached up to scratch her neck. "Let's go back to the apartment. It's safer there."

Thankfully, they didn't meet any monsters on the way. Bianca was surprised at the energy shield around the entire apartment that hid the demigods' scents from any monster on the prowl. Nico felt safer when they were inside, taking the elevator to the fifth floor. Percy looked better, but he still held his right arm carefully. Mrs. O'Leary had somehow managed to squeeze herself through the stairs and was bounding up, barking madly.

Nico used the spare key that Sally had given him to come and go as he pleased. Of course, he was staying with them, so it was more of a gesture of trust. Sometimes, he couldn't believe how much she cared about him.

The moment the door swung open, they could get the smell of hot chocolate. Nico grinned, hoping that Sally had decided to bake something nice. But Percy clicked Riptide, holding his sword in his left hand. He was frowning towards the kitchen.

"What?" Bianca whispered, she got out her bow and pulled an arrow from her quiver, ready to shot it at any target. Nico took out his sword as well.

"My mom said that she'd be late today. And Remus and Sirius are busy in London, remember?"

Nico nodded. The two of them had resigned to be rather alone for a week, because Sally's work hours had been extended temporarily. She was aiming for a promotion in the company she was in and Remus had said something about possibly having to go under cover for a mission. Nico wasn't sure about Sirius, but Percy advanced towards the kitchen slowly, holding his sword aloft. He didn't struggle with having to use his left arm.

Percy stopped right at the bend and gestured for Nico and Bianca to come closer. They complied and Bianca pulled back on the bow, ready to let her arrow fly.

Percy leaned and kicked the small table in hall to attract the attention of whoever was in the kitchen.

They heard a shuffling of feet and someone walked out the door and into the living room. Nico had raised his sword even though he'd realized that it was just Harry.

Harry froze as he saw three demigods, armed to kill. He drew out his wand and pointed it at them, but Percy was already relaxing.

"It's just us."

"What's the new soup I tried over the summer that you threatened to kill me over?" Harry asked, not blinking.

Nico thought back to the ridiculously named soup. He couldn't for the life of him remember the name.

"Dead body soup." Percy drawled.

"Oh yeah, the Korean recipe." Nico said.

Harry lowered his wand. He looked at Bianca and said, "You're Nico's sister, right?"

"Bianca di Angelo, daughter of Hades and Huntress of Artemis." She said stiffly, putting away her bow and arrow. Nico sheathed his sword and lifted his bag for Harry to see.

"Can you fix this?" He showed the ripped hole that the snake tail had made.

Harry pointed his wand at the bag and said, "Reparo."

The torn edges sewed itself, seamlessly. Bianca peered at it.

"You use Latin for magic spells?"

"Most of the time… Latin is the defa – what the hell happened to your hand?!" Harry yelled, finally seeing the blood on Percy's arm. The skin had been too sensitive and no matter how much water they had poured over it, there were still some crusts of blood that Percy didn't want to touch.

"OW! Don't touch it!" Percy howled. Mrs. O'Leary growled from the doorway. She hadn't been able to fit inside the apartment. The door was too small for her. She barked once and then disappeared into black mist that was the shadow of the corridor. She appeared instantaneously beside Percy, practically pushing Harry away with her nose.

"Okay, calm down. Lee Lee, it's okay." Bianca cooed, running forwards and digging her fingers into the hound's pelt. Mrs. O'Leary nudged Harry again. She hadn't been attacking him. She was just worried about Percy.

"Lee Lee?" Harry muttered. He looked up at her. "Lee Lee, how about I heal Percy. Is that alright?"

Mrs. O'Leary panted. She seemed to have understood his words, or at the very least trusted him. Nico knew that she liked Harry.

"Can you?" Percy frowned. "It's too sensitive and I already had ambrosia."

"You did?" Harry asked. "How bad was it before you had it?"

"Um… a bit deep."

"It looks like the skin is new."

"Yeah…"

Percy didn't have to explain it. Harry seemed to have understood. He took Percy's arm and carefully placed his palms around the red skin. Nico stepped towards Percy who closed his eyes in pain. Bianca leaned in curiously and Mrs. O'Leary fell quiet.

Harry's arm gave a soft green glow. It made Percy's arm look terribly fragile. Nico winced. He hated seeing anyone hurt.

"Amazing." Bianca said in awe. Nico saw the rough marks on the new skin fade away. Harry's exhaled, shaking his hands as he removed them. Percy turned his arm around.

"It doesn't hurt!" He laughed. Nico sighed in relief and Harry grunted. "What happened?"

"Chocolate first." Percy said, hugging Harry briefly in thanks. "It's about Grover."

…

 **Bianca, finally! I know I said I'd write about Ginny. But this scene came and we need some di Angelo sibling bonding which I hope will be in the next chapter. Stay tuned!**

 **Q: Why did Bianca take the Hunter's Oath?**

 **Cabba.**


	12. Midnight Meetings

**A:** **Sherlock Harry Winchester and Catie Cat. Yes, Bianca wanted a change. She saw how incredible the hunters were in saving their lives and the independence they had. She didn't love Nico any less, of course.**

 **brade1991: It's a thing I did to Percy. His asthma is more of a breathlessness because his wind pipe contracts far too much when he's under too much stress. At that moment, he needs water, to breathe like a fish. Side effect of being a child of Poseidon. He's more dependent on water than air. Yes, it sounds as silly as demigods having dyslexia and ADHD but really, Riordan did that so that his son could relate more to the characters.**

 **Long italicized paragraphs indicate dreams or visions.**

 **Warning: Some coarse language and suggestive content.**

 **Listening: Corridors to the Abyss by Sinister**

* * *

 _Rachel was standing in a long and spacious corridor. The walls were divided by a line that was at a height of two feet above the floor. The top portion of the wall was painted a sky blue and the bottom was a shade of tan._

 _There were two doors, each at the two ends of the corridor. The one she was facing had the name 'Rosalie' written on it. The one behind her was marked 'Rachel.' The names were printed with thick black ink._

 _Rachel looked ahead and then behind, trying to decide which door to take. She had to pick one. She couldn't stay in the corridor._

 _Two more doors appeared opposite each other in the middle of the hallway. Rachel stepped back. The one on her left was marked 'Demigod – Demigoddess - Monster.'_

 _The door to her right was marked 'Witch - Wizard - Monster.'_

 _Rachel stepped forward, fingers twitching. She reached for the handle of 'Witch' door and pushed it open. Inside was a large hall, nearly half the size of a soccer field. Four long tables were arranged in parallel lines and another table was kept perpendicular to them on the far side. The room was lit with candles that hovered near the ceiling… and the ceiling imitated the night sky._

 _Rachel gaped up. Thousands of stars seemed to twinkle in an unearthly fashion. She'd never seen anything like it before._

 _She backed out and shut the door, breathing heavily. What a strange sight. She took a few seconds to calm down, then turned and faced the door opposite the first one. Steeling herself, she opened it and peered at a smaller room. It had a table tennis table (_ ** _table_** _tennis_ ** _table_** _?) in the middle with at least a dozen chairs scattered around it. There was no indication that the room was supernatural or otherworldly, but Rachel didn't dare step into the room. The air seemed to shimmer in soft purple and silver hues when she tried to look out of the corners of her eyes. Normal air wasn't like that._

 _She closed the door and remained in the corridor, wondering where to go. Just then there was a loud noise similar to that of a stampede and the one of the end doors burst open. A huge flood of people rushed in, laughing and yelling at each other. Rachel stumbled back in alarm, pressing herself to the wall to avoid getting stuck in the mob. But they hardly paid her any attention. The group started to divide itself up, about half of them entering the room on the right and the rest entering the room on the left._

 _The last few people were familiar. Rachel blinked when she saw Percy, Nico and Annabeth enter the room marked 'Demigod – Demigoddess – Monster.' They were waving at Harry and DJ, who were at the entrance of the other door marked 'Witch – Wizard – Monster.'_

 _The first door closed. DJ walked into his designated room leaving Rachel and Harry alone in the corridor._

" _Come on, Rosie." Harry said, turning towards her. She stared._

" _Wh… what?"_

" _We're late. Did you get your ticket approved?" Harry asked, raising his eyebrows._

" _My ticket?" Rachel wondered, feeling very left out._

" _Yes." He sounded exasperated and pulled out what looked like a traditional, printed train ticket. She tilted her head and read 'Hogwarts Express' on it._

" _Um…" She searched her pockets, feeling her face flush. It would be so awkward if everyone had their tickets and she didn't. Where had she kept hers? Did she forget it?_

" _Here. Here!" She cried, pulling out a similar card from one of her pockets. Rachel stared at it in relief. It was soft gold, like Harry's and the embossed letters displayed Rachel's name boldly, next to the ticket number, a simple 29._

" _Get the stamp." Harry said, showing a bright purple seal affixed on his ticket. He grinned at her and walked into the room, leaving the door ajar._

 _Rachel turned around, searching for the ticket inspector. There had to be one. Where did everyone get their tickets stamped and approved?_

" _Tickets?" Someone called out. "Don't lag about, tickets!"_

 _Rachel looked up. Her mother, Beatrice Dare, was walking towards her, waving about her hands, looking a little frazzled._

" _Mom? What're you doing here?" Rachel asked. This was becoming very strange._

" _Tickets, sweetheart!" Her mom said, looking at her with an impatient stare._

 _Rachel offered her ticket for her mom to check. She waited nervously, crossing her fingers. Her mother hummed and frowned at the information._

" _Denied." Her mother said. "Sorry, dear. Tickets!" She handed Rachel back the now useless ticket and turned around to look for anyone else with unchecked tickets, though they were the only ones in the corridor._

" _Why?" Rachel asked, feeling immense disappointment well up in her. The door that Harry had walked through had closed and their footsteps and voices echoed in the corridor._

" _You aren't qualified, sweety." Her mom said without a backwards glance. "It's alright. There are many others like you. Let's go."_

 _Rachel watched in disbelief. The ticket was still in her limp hand. She could hear the noises in the two rooms die out. She was alone. Her mother opened the door at the end of the corridor and left. The door closed and the word on it had changed. Rachel frowned._

 _The door now said, 'ἄνασσα'._

 _She turned around and saw the door on the opposite end marked, '_ _Πυθία'._

* * *

Percy shrugged off the tiredness in his eyes as he tried to focus on Bianca's story. It was midnight in Scotland and he wondered if Harry had told anyone that he'd left Hogwarts. He was sure that neither DJ nor Hermione knew as they'd have been the most vocal.

Harry swore under his breath.

Percy sighed. "What's wrong?"

"I won't be able to use the floo to go back to the castle." He said.

Bianca raised an eyebrow. "Are you talking about the hearth? Clarisse from camp says that wizards have an odd habit of travelling the Santa Claus way."

Before anyone could reply to that, the door bell rang.

Harry sat up straight, eyes wide in alarm. "Damn! Percy, is that mum?!"

"Probably. But she said she'd be working overtime for a while – "

"I shouldn't be here! She'll tell Sirius and Remus and they'll tell McGonagall and then I'm dead." Harry rattled off as he got up and looked around the room for a place to hide. Then he slapped a hand on his forehead and muttered, "I'm an idiot."

While Nico was already headed towards the door, Harry pulled the Invisibility Cloak from one of his extended jacket pockets and slung the shimmering material over himself. Bianca's jaw dropped as he disappeared from view.

"Holy Artemis!"

Mrs. O'Leary lowered her head and poked her nose at empty space. Harry's whisper was high pitched, "Lee Lee! Stop that!"

Nico opened the door and everyone in the room stared at the crowd of ten armed girls standing in the outer corridor. Percy nearly fell off of his seat. Not that he'd never seen them before, but it was a startling sight to see a bunch of goddess approved fighters at one's doorstep. Like Bianca, each of them had a soft aura that shone like silver over their skin. It wasn't very visible until Percy really focused on them.

"Hey, cuz." Thalia said, grinning down at Nico. The silver circlet on her black hair seemed to emit light of its own. In contrast to the power, she wore skull earrings which seemed to get most of Nico's attention. She looked exactly as she did the last time Percy had seen her.

"Uh… hey…" Nico looked stunned at the sight of the huntresses.

"Hey!" Bianca waved from her perch. Some of the girls peered in to look at the living room with interest. Mrs. O'Leary was excited, but she couldn't move much given the space.

"Hi!" Percy said, in surprise. "Come on in."

They trooped in as Nico stepped back. Mrs. O'Leary barked, deafening everybody.

"Ooh, Lee Lee, please. Indoor voice, girl." One of them said. Percy remembered her as Phoebe. She didn't look in his direction but went straight to Bianca, kissing her on the cheek and then sitting on the couch next to the hound's large nose.

The hellhound was so pleased by the sight of the hunters that she nuzzled Phoebe's hair, tail wagging vigourously enough to smack into Harry who'd failed to get away.

"Ow!"

Percy jumped when all the girls except for Bianca leaped up and brought out swords, knives and the lot, aiming it at the air beside the hound.

"Wait! Wait! It's just Harry!" Percy yelled. Nico ran up to the space where the cloak slipped off to reveal Harry rubbing his head.

"He's fine." Bianca added. The hunters relaxed their stances but still frowned at the wizard.

"Harry." Thalia said, stunned. She had brought out her shield, Aegis. Mrs. O'Leary whimpered and put her paws over her nose. Harry and Nico winced.

"Thalia… the shield." Nico said, shutting his eyes.

"Right." She turned it away and looked at Harry with a frown, "Harry, what're you doing here?"

"And why were you hiding?" Another girl asked, folding her arms after withdrawing her daggers.

"I come here sometimes." Harry retorted. "And I thought you were Sally."

"Who's Sally?" Someone else asked.

"Sally Jackson owns the apartment you're standing in." Percy said, raising an eyebrow. "I'm her son."

Phoebe's voice was sharp. "Your mortal parent is _alive_?"

They stared at him like it was an impossible thought. Percy shuffled around beside the wall. Thalia sighed and announced, "Come on, girls, you saw Annabeth's dad."

They complied, still looking around warily. Some of them sat down on the couch to look at the blank TV.

"Are you staying here?" Nico asked, moving towards Bianca.

Thalia leaned against the wall. She'd been staring at Harry. "Hmm…? Oh, we're here to pick up Bi –"

"Something smells good."One of the younger girls said. She seemed to be the smallest, looking about nine or so. Her hair was braided into a single French plait. Percy had a feeling that she was the newest recruit because she was the only one, other than Bianca and Thalia, who was not glaring at the boys.

"Chocolate chip." Harry muttered. He was staring back at Thalia.

"Oh, those are my favourite!" The new hunter said.

"Mine too." Nico said without thinking. The girl flushed and turned around to glare at him, as though she had to.

Bianca rolled her eyes. "It is possible for more than two people in a room to like chocolate chip cookies, Natalie. Even if they're of different genders."

Mrs. O'Leary barked as though seconding the opinion.

"Percy." Thalia said suddenly. "Would you mind if we stay the night?"

"What?" Several voices came up, all with different inflections.

"Thalia!" Phoebe protested, but Thalia shook her head. "It's just for the night. And I want a good uninterrupted sleep. There's a shield around the building that keeps our scent away from the monsters, isn't there, Percy?"

She wasn't asking for his help, she was demanding it. Percy had no problem. "Yeah. You'll be safe for the night."

"And we don't have the wolves." Natalie muttered.

"Where are they? The rest of the group, I mean." Nico asked. He blinked when some of the girls stared him down but Phoebe said, "They're at Camp."

"We split up." Thalia explained when Phoebe said no more. "Lady Artemis was adamant that we search the West and East coasts. But we haven't found him. That doesn't mean he isn't here, though."

Percy rubbed the back of his neck in annoyance. He wished more than ever to find his friend but the link was just all muddled.

"I'll just leave." Harry muttered, picking up his cloak and folding it. They watched the cloth as it was packed away and Harry made his way to the door.

"Wait. Where are you goin'?" Percy asked, pushing himself off the wall.

"Hogwarts. I'm definitely not getting caught."

"So, how –"

"I'll go to Central park, use the trees to reach the Forbidden Forest. Easy peasy."

Percy frowned. "Can you get inside the wards?"

Harry's expression didn't change, but the look in his eyes gave it away.

"If you're going to get stuck outside –"

"I won't. I'll figure something out. There are passages from the village that I can take. It'll lead right into the castle."

Percy grimaced. It had to be late in the night in Scotland, not to mention far colder than it was in NYC. He didn't want Harry to go alone. Not to mention…

"The sun's set." Percy pointed out the window. The soft red clouds had disappeared in the darkness. They'd talked for a long time, mostly about Grover, but also about Harry's predicament with Quidditch sessions. There was also something else but Harry had hesitated before refusing to talk about it.

Back to the scenario, New York after the dark was not friendly. Harry had never been to the city alone, Percy didn't want that case to happen.

"I'll go with him." Thalia said.

The room fell silent. Even Mrs. O'Leary turned her great shaggy head to sniff towards Thalia.

"Er…what!" Harry stammered.

"Thals…" Bianca said in a tone of warning.

"Oh for…" Thalia scoffed. "I'll be walking him to the park. No biggie. Besides I need to talk to him."

She was looking at Phoebe who was the oldest in the group. Even though Thalia was head hunter, it was obvious that Phoebe always had a say in major decisions.

Phoebe's gaze was scorching but Thalia didn't budge. "I'll be back in an hour's time."

Percy watched with no small amount of trepidation as Thalia grabbed Harry's elbow, almost pulling him towards the door. They exited still leaving the room cold and wary.

Natalie looked around. "Why couldn't he have gone with Lee Lee? She could just shadow travel, right?"

"She couldn't." Nico said. He stood closer to Bianca when everyone looked at him. "You can't shadow travel inside Hogwarts. The wards won't let it."

Percy turned to face him fully. "Did you try that?"

Nico shrugged, looking very embarrassed. "Yeah… I thought… well, just for kicks… It didn't work. It was like the shield outside the UK Embassy in Rome, but a lot stronger."

He nodded and stayed quiet. Nobody said much, simply opting to look around. Bianca sighed so dramatically like she'd wanted to prove that she was a child of one of the Big Three.

"If we're staying the night, then let's relax a bit. I think there are enough cookies for everyone."

* * *

Thalia was silent in the elevator. Harry stared at her reflection in the doors in front of them. He tried not to fidget and ended up standing far so still like he had been frozen by Aegis.

She shuffled her feet and whistled in a nonchalant fashion, like she wasn't toeing any rule or law or oath.

"Are they any cameras in here?" She asked suddenly.

Harry started. "No. CCTV cameras are in the hallways –"

Thalia reached across him and pressed the 'Stop' button. The elevator shuddered to a halt and a red light started to blink.

"What are you –"

"Show me that bracelet." She said urgently.

Harry gaped. "Huh?"

"The damn bracelet on your left arm! Show it right now!"

"I'm not showing you anything!"

"Harry – "

"If you think I'm going to take off my shirt in front of a huntress, you've got another thing coming at you." Harry said in a tone of finality, stepping away from her, but there was only so much space.

Thalia groaned, facing upwards for a moment before calming down. "I'm being serious here. Just roll up your sleeves."

"They don't go that far." Harry said. His face felt hot. "I can roll them up to my elbows –"

"Then do that."

Harry glared at her. "Any particular reason why?"

Thalia breathed in slowly. "Because I'm asking nicely."

"This is you being nice?"

"Harry, I need to see that bracelet. I think I know what it really is."

He stared at her. The blinking red light was sharp in his eyes, but he couldn't care less about it.

"How do you… why didn't you start with that?!" Harry huffed and pulled back the left sleeve of his jacket to reveal the white uniform sleeve underneath. He folded it a few times and then Thalia used both hands to shove it up and over the bracelet. It remained as it always was. Unassuming and stuck to his skin.

Her hands were cold as they prodded at the metal, turning his arm around to look at the various ornaments that hung from it.

"Twelve charms." She muttered. "Have they all been activated?"

"Activated? What does that mean?"

She gave him a look. The bangs of her thick and spiky hair fell over her eyes. Harry hadn't realized it but they had the same hairstyle, except Thalia's was more stylish while Harry's simply grew in every direction.

"Reacted. Shone. Heated up. Danced the foxtrot. What have you?"

Harry narrowed his eyes. "Some of them have given a glow. Like it was reacting to something…"

He trailed off, thinking back. "It happens when Percy is in danger."

"What?" Thalia stood up, dropping his arm.

"When… the time when Percy and you guys were on Mount Tamalpais, he was getting crushed by the sky and the bracelet just started to glow. It was hot too and I disappeared … from the train, that is, and appeared right on the mountain."

Thalia blanched. "I remember that! I thought… oh gods…"

"What? Is it bad?" He asked pushing the sleeve down to cover his arm again.

Thalia looked away for a second. "After the thing with Rome, Annabeth explained as much as she could, starting with Ajax Furor. They said that Percy's mom had killed him but then you said that he was still alive afterwards."

Harry grunted, trying not to think too much about him.

Thalia went on. "It sounds impossible but he seems to be escaping death. He may have done that for thousands of years or he may have been brought back to life recently. Artemis spoke about certain artifacts… how they can get attached to you and you never even question it. How it could enhance your powers or drain you of it. How it could save your life, bring you back or kill you. It got me thinking when I saw yours, there was something off about it."

Harry pressed his back to the side of the elevator. "What… kind of artifacts are these? You think my bracelet –"

"I think you're blessed." She said in a quiet voice. "Some deity has blessed you and given you a gift. Same with Ajax. The stories say that when Troy fell, Ajax invited the wrath of the armies and he fled to a temple where a god sheltered for a while. Artemis believes that's who gave him the ability to stay alive."

"But I though Poseidon had killed him." Harry protested weakly. He touched his bracelet, remembering a conversation he'd over heard in the hospital when he had been recuperating. Something about being miraculously alive after suffering an explosion.

Like he'd escaped death once again.

Just like Ajax.

"Poseidon did." Thalia frowned. She moved away from him, eyes far away. "But he was … brought back…"

Harry shook his head. "This is hurting my head. And how did you come up with this? How did Artemis –"

"Mortals can't live more than one lifetime as is stipulated by their species." Thalia recited like she was reading out of a rule book. "There was someone who was accused of immortality. No matter how many times she died, she would always wake up like she'd been knocked out."

"Who?"

"Iphygenia, princess of Argos. She was a priestess of Artemis for many years. When she died for the first time, she was given a funeral, but her body didn't burn. Instead, she healed completely and woke up within hours. When the others realized what had happened, they locked her up in a prison. But the next morning, she'd vanished."

She leaned away from him and pressed the stop button again. The blinking light switched off and the elevator was in motion like nothing had happened.

"How many times did she die?" Harry asked in a whisper. The elevator doors opened when they reached the ground floor and Thalia walked out, facing away from him. She was staring at the fire axe behind a glass case opposite the lift.

"Zoe had seen her a few times. Iphigenia couldn't always escape. She was sentenced to death by Zeus, but every time anyone tried to kill her, she simply regenerated. Her body healed and she woke up. She never stayed down for more than a day, I think."

"Someone's breaking the rules." Harry whispered. "If this started three thousand years ago…"

She looked at him with a frown. "Have you ever been contacted by a god?"

Harry swallowed. "No. Other than Poseidon, although he didn't actually contact me unless it was through Percy."

"Percy has a bracelet too." She muttered, more to herself.

His throat went dry. He thought back to Rome where he met Cass and Iphy. Iphy who looked like a Greek queen, who could stare down Ajax, who could throw him across the room like she was superhuman. Cass who now stood out starkly as Cassandra, burdened with Apollo's gift in her first life.

All three of them, Iphigenia, Cassandra and Ajax the Lesser were people from the time of Troy. The time of Achilles and Hector and Paris and Helen. Cassandra who was kidnapped by the Greeks, by Agamemnon who was Iphigenia's father. That was how they'd probably met. And then the thing with Ajax…

He felt his breathing go shallow and his chest worked overtime to regain the dwindling oxygen. How was Percy and he connected to them? Harry had been hit by the killing curse twice and been in a bomb blast once. He'd been killed three times in his life and he still stood there, at the entrance of the apartment building where the Jacksons lived, facing the road outside, looking at all the people who walked by, unaware of the unnaturalness.

Harry felt like he couldn't breathe.

"Harry, Harry, look at me." Her voice was strong like thunder, resonating painfully in his ears. Harry snapped his eyes closed, not even realizing they had been watering.

"Hold your breath." Thalia instructed. It was difficult, but he pressed his lips together and stopped breathing. His lungs protested and he wheezed, breathing out. He swallowed a gulp of air and calm down by a fraction.

"I want you to listen to me very carefully." She said in a whisper. She was deadly serious. "If you've been blessed, it means you've done something for this god. Or that you will _have_ to do something."

"Shit." He said. Thalia gave him a wan smile.

"Sorry. But it's better than the other option in some ways "What's the other option?" He asked even though he knew. But his mind was racing a hundred miles an hour on several things and he needed someone to explain it.

Thalia let out a sigh. "It's better than having something attached to you that feeds off of you. Something that can kill you at the drop of a hat, whenever the being that cursed you sees fit."

Harry shuddered, despite the warm night. He remembered the cold moments of Tom's diary and the havoc it had wreaked in Hogwarts. The thing had _died_ when it was pierced by a hundred basilisk fangs and the snake itself had died from biting it.

Thalia and he walked through the ever alive streets of Manhattan. Harry squinted against the bright lights as they walked in relative silence. His mind kept jumping from the bracelet to Iphigenia to the diary to the prophecy to Grover to Ajax to Voldemort to Cassandra to Percy. It was a shifting process of worry, fear and hatred.

"This being…" Harry said. Thalia looked towards him. They kept walking in tandem. "You think this god blessed me and Percy with the bracelets?"

She shrugged. "From my point of view, it's helped you save each other."

"So it can't be all bad?"

She scowled. "Don't ever underestimate what an immortal can do. Their intentions are always vague. I've never heard of gods helping mortals without expecting something in return. There's a balance to be maintained. It's a law, I'm sure."

"Gods have laws?"

"Oh yes." She stretched her arms upwards and then wound them behind her head to look at the smoky night sky. "Some are well known. A god can never challenge a mortal to a fight. They can't impeach onto another's territory without permission or without expecting a war. They can't claim other demigod children as their own, although this one has a few exceptions."

"Like the Hunters of Artemis?"

She grinned. "Yes. Also, sometimes, gods can favour certain other demigods for a skill or heritage. Like Hestia. I like her. She treats everyone, even demigods, as fairly as possible."

He said slowly. "Does she explicitly _favour_ anyone who is not a demigod?"

"Well, sometimes gods can give good luck to mortals if they simply like them. Sometimes they go and sleep with mortals they like a lot. Depends on what you think is a favour."

Harry's face contorted and Thalia snorted.

"I don't think Hestia does that."

"No. She doesn't." Thalia agreed. "Athena, Artemis, Hestia and Iris remain celibate. They choose to do so. Their favour lies in other modes."

Harry turned to look at her. "Athena, you say? But… she has kids."

Thalia eyed him. She had a sly look. "Never underestimate the Greek gods, Harry. You're totally out of your league."

He nodded hastily. It was easy to push his troubles to the back of his head as he focused on the present. She laughed again and clapped his back. He groaned.

"Seriously, Thalia! Are you trying to get me killed?"

"Oh, relax. You're my friend. I'm allowed to hang out with friends."

He looked at her in surprise. That was unexpected. When they'd last parted way, she had given a half hearted apology of not being able to accompany him to the Yule Ball. And that was it. Nothing about their little snog sessions, nothing about Luke. Harry wasn't an idiot. He'd seen her face when she'd been fighting the traitor. Percy was right. Luke was a right bastard.

Except Percy had said 'jerk'.

"You're my friend too." He told her. She grinned.

They reached Central Park. The trees formed a canopy above them and Harry walked to the nearest one, placing a hand on it and turning around to look at her.

"Don't think too much about the bracelet." Thalia said suddenly. "I'll try to find answers about it and then tell you. It's no good worrying about something you can't control. The thing's been on you for ten years."

"Yeah. Before this summer, I was in danger and Percy appeared there with no idea as to how."

She nodded. "I'd heard that. But that's not how it always works, huh? Like the thing with Rome?"

Harry clenched his jaw. Thalia kept talking. "Annabeth said that they had to use shadow travel and what not to get to you. So the bracelet isn't infallible."

"There must be more to it." He said through his teeth. His skin felt uncomfortable warm from bad memories.

"Obviously." She said in a deadpan. "I'll see you later, Harry Potter. Cheerio and all that."

Harry felt an eyelid twitch. He pressed his palm deeper into the tree and said, "See you soon, Thalia Grace."

Her stark blue eyes popped open and she gasped. She advanced like she was going to thump him, but he was already gone.

* * *

" _Sally Jackson_." A voice said, echoing from her bag. Sally looked down at it in surprise. She'd just parked her car in the basement of her apartment and had stepped into the elevator.

She dug through the bag and brought up the palm sized mirror Sirius had given her. "Sirius Black." She answered and her reflection was replaced by his face. She grinned at him.

"Sirius, it must be past midnight over there. Why aren't you asleep?"

"Salllyyyyy!" He whined. She rolled her eyes. "We told Harry about the… the thing."

Sally stared down at him. "How… did he take it?"

"He had questions. We answered them as much as possible but… really, he was a little quiet afterwards. I thought he'd be angry or hurt, but he didn't act out."

"That's good, I suppose?"

"It worries me. Whenever Harry acts out, it always scares me because as tough as that kid is, he finds some way to endanger himself. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if he's out of the tower, wandering the castle."

Sirius looked solemn at the admission. She wished she could be there to comfort him, Remus and Harry, but she was far too tired to floo to Frost and then Grimmauld Place. It was eight and she hadn't eaten anything since lunch.

"You look like you're about to crash." Sirius commented and she sighed.

"I do feel like it. I over did it today. I thought it would be just a few articles, but as it turned out, I had to oversee three whole files and that took up most of the day and ate away at my brain."

"And it's still Monday." Sirius said. Sally rolled her shoulders to will away the tension in them. What she needed was a nice hot bath, but she'd have to settle for a shower and a hurriedly made dinner.

"You have to slow down or you'll burn away." He told her.

She tried not to glare at him. The elevator doors opened onto her floor and Sally stepped out. "I told you, I need the work. The weekends are for my classes and assignments and that always spills over into the weekdays. I didn't think it would be this much of a tight budget with Nico. I'm getting less hours to finish my second draft as it is."

Sirius looked worried. "Sally, I could loan you –"

"Yes, yes. That's nice and all, Sirius. But I told you that I can manage it. It's just going to be packed for the month. Once my promotion is done, we can have a breather. Don't tell Nico about this."

He held his hand up in innocence. "Promise. How's the book coming along?"

"You'd think it would be easier since my boss is my editor, but it's actually a huge disadvantage. She always harps on me about work when I'm focusing on the draft and then she lectures about my book when I'm working. I think she enjoys causing me pain." Sally groaned, leaning against the wall outside her house and dropping her bag to ease her shoulders.

"It's natural to hate one's boss, Sally. It's part of life."

"I don't hate Kunou." She said, chuckling. "She has a point. My deadline is next week. That's why I'm staying after hours."

"Hey, who's side are you on? Yours or hers?" Sirius protested playfully.

Sally laughed. "Oh gods. I miss you."

"You saw me a couple of days ago."

"Hmm." She smirked. "What exactly were we doing?"

Sirius growled. "Oh, you little –"

The door swung open and Percy's head stuck out. He looked surprised as he stared at her and then at the mirror in her hand.

"Hey Sirius! Er… where are you?"

"Safe house." He shrugged. "Why?"

"Nothing. Hi, mom. You look tired. Want some chocolate?"

"For dinner?" She asked.

"I envy you." Sirius said dramatically.

"Um, I sort of made it. Hot chocolate."

"From scratch?" Sally asked, stepping into their living room, impressed. Then she stopped in shock as she stared at the hellhound squeezed into the room along with several young girls in what she assumed were, tough trekking outfits.

"They are some of the hunters. Artemis' hunters. They're staying the night. I hope you don't mind." Percy said, suddenly nervous. "Guys… um… girls, this is my mom."

"Hi." They chorused.

Sally looked at the dozen kids in her house. Mrs. O'Leary barked in excitement and the woman sighed. Well, it was only for the night. She could put up with the supernatural. She was used to it.

* * *

Some of the forest extended past the wards and into the village. Harry appeared right behind Hog's Head, glad to see that there were no lights on. Hogwarts and Hogsmeade were silent and Harry shuddered as he brought out his Invisibility cloak to hide in.

His plan was to find Honeydukes and somehow get into the cellar, but he saw a lone carriage, pulled by two thestrals, in the distance. It wound its way through the single path from Hogsmeade station to the castle. He stood still under the cloak before curiousity got the better of him. He got out the Marauder's Map that had been tucked into his pocket as well and pointed his wand to it, whispering it alive.

The lines of ink drew themselves over the parchment and Harry followed the carriage as silently as he could. One of the thestrals slowed down to turn its head towards him, but the other kept going and the first had to continue along with it. They could probably smell him.

Harry looked into the map. It could cover exactly what constituted as Hogwarts' territory. Hogsmeade was not on it. He'd have to wait for the gates to open.

He followed the carriage as deftly as he could. There was no one else in sight. When they reached the high gates that towered over the carriage, the thestrals stopped. Harry waited nervously till two silhouettes could be seen on the other side. One was tall and the other stooping, walking with a limp.

Dumbledore and Filch came into sight and Harry cursed, ducking behind the carriage praying that the headmaster hadn't caught sight of him. There wasn't enough light, but he could never be sure. Harry had always felt that Dumbledore could see through the cloak.

The gates opened and the two men stood aside as the thestrals trotted ahead. Harry stuck to the back of the carriage as closely as possible. The moment they'd passed the wards, the gate shut close. There was no alarm. Harry would be identified as a student so there was no need for the automatic emergency measures to kick up.

The door to the carriage opened and Dumbledore said, "A midnight meeting, Minister?"

Harry looked down at the map in his hands. There were two people in the carriage, Cornelius Fudge and Dolores Umbridge.

* * *

 **ἄνασσα (Queen)**

 **Πυθία (Pythia)**

 **Oh my god, I'm tired. Seriously, I'm dead asleep as I type this. Stay tuned (yawn) for the next chappie, next week.**

 **Q:** **Have you heard Riordan's speech on LGBT+ and racial representation in his books? Listen to it.**

 **Cabba.**


	13. Stone Cold

**Guys, check out the poll. It'll be up till this fic ends. And Riordan's speech! Listen to it!**

 **The entire Harry Potter universe has been (sort of) shifted seventeen years into the future. (eg: canon!Harry was born in 1980, pumki!Harry was born in 1997) I've made irregularities in previous stories that he was born in 1994 and 96, but that's a math error on my part.**

 **Apparently Tom Riddle's eyes were dark brown? I'd always imagined him to have blue-black eyes…**

 **Listening to: Bring Me Back To Life by Extreme Music**

* * *

The hunters had glared at Percy when he'd suggested that they could crash in his and Nico's room. After a few seconds of stammering, Sally had taken over and let them bunk in the living room. Mrs. O'Leary was taking up too much space, so, with a heavy sniffle, she shadow travelled to camp for the night.

By ten, everyone had retired. Sally's snores could be heard throughout the house and Nico giggled himself to sleep after a while. Percy lay awake on his bed, listening to the mutters of the hunters.

 _That was invigorating._

He stifled his groan. Percy turned away from the figure that had stepped into his gaze. Tom rolled his eyes.

 _Don't be immature._

'You know how to find Grover but you won't help me. I can be as immature as I want', Percy thought.

 _That's not what I had meant._ Tom admitted. He sounded cautious. Percy frowned, staring at the wall where Tom's shadow ought to be there but wasn't.

'You said it yourself.' Percy thought, irritated. 'That you'd helped me enough for the day.'

 _Yes, and then you were attacked and injured. I'd been contemplating on how to heal you without attracting Nico's attention when his sister showed up._

Curiosity got the better of Percy. He fisted the sheets before turned around again. Nico was asleep, facing away from them. Tom stood in between the beds, right in front of the closed door, hands in his pocket. If it wasn't for the steep height, Percy would have assumed that the posture of the silhouette could have belonged to Harry.

'Heal me? You can do that?'

Tom tilted his head. An awkward sort of smile flitted across his face making him far younger than he seemed…

'Wait, how old are you?' Percy wondered.

Tom sighed and looked away. A shadow had fallen across his face, lips sealed tight. Percy was quiet, trying to come up with an apology. Obviously, it had been a very personal questi –

 _I was born in 1943. The thirty first of December._

Percy's jaw would have fallen open if he weren't lying down. 1943… that means… that… Tom…

Percy got up slowly. He sat on the bed, looking up at Tom, stunned.

"You're real?" He whispered.

Tom's eyes narrowed. He turned to watch Nico for any signs of movement. But the boy stayed deep in slumber. Percy sat still, waiting for Tom to reply. A few tense seconds passed. Then, Tom let his hands drop out of his pockets and he sat next to Percy. The bed didn't dip with the weight. It was like Tom really was only in his mind, but still…

 _In a way._ Tom muttered. _I'm a wizard. Or was, anyway._

Percy sat cross legged, placing his elbows just below his knees. His palms supported his chin and he watched Tom, eager for the story.

Tom snorted. He gave Percy a sly look before beginning his explanation. _I'd lived in an orphanage for the first eleven years of my life. My mother had been very ill. It had been a particularly harsh winter. She died shortly after I was born._

Percy winced. He sat up but Tom was already speaking. _It was not very pleasant. My upbringing had disillusioned me from the grandeurs of the world. But the summer after I'd turned eleven, I received a call from one of the teachers from Hogwarts._

Tom recounted about how he discovered he was a wizard, he told Percy about spending his next seven years in one of the most renowned schools for magic in the world. The brilliance and the power of being someone that he had always yearned to be.

 _I was always curious about my birth parents, of course. My mother had no papers with her. And it took me years to find my father and his family._

Tom's eyes softened. Percy smiled.

 _I looked just like my dad. And he looked like his. It was rather a fun meeting. My father had had no idea that I'd existed. My mother had run away from an abusive home. Her father and brother were extremely regressive in their lifestyle even for the forties. They'd forbidden her from mingling with anyone outside the family._

He shrugged. Percy waited till Tom regained his composure. When I was eighteen, I'd gone to find my mother's old home. Her father, my grandfather, had died years ago. But her brother was there. He was rather insane. The moment he saw me, he'd realized why she'd left the house.

Tom looked down. There was a crease in his forehead. His shoulders were stiff and Percy wanted to reach out and comfort him somehow. Tom shook his head and continued in a low mutter. _So much for being an efficient dueler. I was known to have some of the best reflexes in the country, did you know? After all that, I was bested by a man three times my age._

He exhaled heavily. _I don't even really remember when he had killed me. I suppose one of his spells caught me of guard. One minute, I was standing in that dirty old shack, the next, … there was no pain at all. It was pleasant for a few minutes._

Percy stared. Tom was dead?

 _I was eighteen. I had mapped out my entire life. I could have been someone useful. I could have been the Minister. That's what Sluggy use to say. He was never wrong about those sort of things._

The sadness in his voice was unbearable. It was bitter and full of regret. Percy felt his body rolling against the tension, feeling Tom's decades old frustration washing over the… spirit? Departed person?

Tom turned around to face Percy fully. _Sometimes, when a witch or wizard's not ready to move on, at the point of their death, they have a choice of sorts. If they choose to stay back, their consciousness is left behind in an imprint. Another word for this is 'ghost'._

Percy blinked. 'You're a ghost? But you're different from the others in the castle. I've seen them. They're all pearly white and floaty.'

 _Floaty_ , Tom repeated in a deadpan.

'Yeah. You know… like ghosts that walk through walls and float through the floors and ceilings and anything solid. And they're cold too. Like if they're a lot of them in a room, it gets super cold.'

Tom raised an eyebrow. _I'm a different kind of spirit._

'And they're usually attached to certain places – wait, what d'you mean a different kind?'

Tom leaned against the head board. He stared outside the window. The curtains weren't pulled all the way. A strip of light from the street lamp outside came into the room. If Percy tilted his head to the left, he'd be able to see the moonlace that Calypso had gifted him.

 _I'm more than an imprint. See, imprint means a bare remnant of the real thing. It is not the soul of it. Ghosts are_ _ **not**_ _souls of the dead. They're the representations of the consciousness of the departed. Once you die, your soul moves on, but magic in the blood sometimes linger for a longer period. In that amount of time, if you decide to stay back, your 'awareness', your personality lingers on and, yes, they get attached to certain things like buildings or objects. Some ghosts wander from place to place._

 _I have more substance in me. That's why I'm not pearly white or floaty._

Percy nodded, getting the essence of the answer. He still had questions. 'Okay. But why am I the only one who can see you? Or talk to you?'

Tom chuckled. _I suppose it's similar to your previous connection with Rachel. It probably has nothing to do with me. You're just perceptive to certain kinds of magic. Like your ability to move through shields. That is impossible, yet you've managed it. There's more to you that you or the gods can imagine, Percy. All you did was pick up on my presence in the house and you did that unconsciously._

Percy nearly jumped when Tom sat up straight and leaned towards him. _You have far more power than you credit yourself. The worst thing you can do with it is to squander it. You are a rarity, Perseus._

The noises from outside, the cars passing by, the low conversations between the hunters all melted away and the only thing of importance was Tom, sitting in front of him. Percy held his breath, eyes wide, body extremely still.

 _I will help you._ Tom whispered, looking directly into Percy's eyes. _But I need to build my own strength for an advanced tracking charm. And since I'm not exactly living, I'll need your help in return. So really, you're just helping yourself._

The air was cold. The back of Percy's neck felt raw and exposed. He wasn't sure what it was he was feeling. He felt blood pumping all through his body. It was an adrenaline rush. Sweat gathered under his hair and the sides of his temple. He felt his body heat up, fighting the cold emanating from Tom.

… I'm not exactly living…

Percy was conversing with a dead guy. Someone who could not be detected by Nico and Bianca, children of Hades, the freakin' Lord of the Dead! Nobody could see, could sense him. The hunters had their own enhanced band of magic, being extensively blessed by Artemis, who was no slouch in the league of the Olympians. His mom and Rachel were two of the best clear sighted people he'd ever known. They could see better than the wizards. The wizards too hadn't been able to sense the dead of their own kind.

It was power. Percy could feel Tom's immense power unleashing and coiling around him, making his body react to it. The fight or flight instinct hit him from all sides and Percy had to fist his palms to clamp his body down from all the energy in the room.

Tom needed more than what he had. He needed Percy's power to perform whatever charm he needed to find Grover. Because no one, demigods, hunters, satyrs, naiads, dryads could find him.

Tom could do the impossible. Like Percy.

'What do you need?' Percy thought.

Tom's eyes were black in the dark. He looked like a terrifying angel of retribution and vengeance. It was stunning. _I need to practice. I've been cooped up in that house for years. I need to exercise my muscles._

He tilted his head in Percy's direction. _I need a corpse._

Percy broke from his impression of a statue. He swallowed, trying not to cringe from Tom's excitement.

'Why?'

The not-ghost grinned. _Would you rather I perform spells on the living? That might give off a bit of a red light, Percy. The dead would be better. In fact, the best thing would be to find a body which has not started to decompose as of yet. Know anything… or anyone like that?_

* * *

Harry couldn't follow them all the way. He hung back till the Headmaster, the old caretaker, the Minister and the Undersecretary went up to Dumbledore's office. He hid behind an alcove near the end of the corridor, watching as the gargoyles settled into motionless guards. He checked the map. McGonagall, Mad Eye and Snape were in the office waiting for the party.

It was a gamble. Either Harry could wait there and guess what was happening, or he could back to the tower and sleep on it. Except, he wasn't sleepy. He had the same restless energy that possessed him to leave the castle after hearing the prophecy.

Damn Voldemort. It was all his fault.

He stared back into the map. He swore. Filch was leaving the office.

The stone staircase started to turn and the gargoyles moved aside for him. The old caretaker hobbled down. He was muttering under his breath. Harry's breath caught when Mrs. Norris came out of the shadows, not to greet him, but to hiss in Harry's direction.

"Is someone there, my sweet?" Filch asked in a hoarse whisper, eyes squinting in the light of the torches. Harry pressed himself to the wall, feet already heading for the corner. The cat mewed and started to trot towards him. Abandoning caution (he couldn't afford to get caught,) Harry turned and practically flew down the corridor, his cloak flapping about his feet. He clutched his wand and map tight, searching for the nearest hiding spot.

The painting of the fruit bowl came into view on the left. Harry could hear the pair trudging from the far end of the corridor. He turned and touched the vividly painted pear. It gave a little giggle as he tickled it. Mrs. Norris meowed again and Harry grabbed the door handle that had formed from the image of the fruit. He pushed the little door open, leaped inside as quietly as he could and closed it.

The house elves had to be asleep, but the lights were on and Harry found himself facing about a dozen elves who stared back at them. They were sitting on the floor talking to four humans. DJ, Ginny, Luna and Colin stared back in silence.

Everyone was quiet, obviously in shock, until Luna raised a steaming mug in her hands and said, "Tea, Harry?"

The elves scrambled around till Harry placated them. Tea was fine. He sat next to a severe DJ who began to scold him for wandering about the castle. Harry didn't say anything but silently pinched DJ's ear, threatening to twist it for hypocrisy.

He'd checked the map. Filch and Mrs. Norris had gone past the painting, continuing down the hallway. When Ginny had asked him what had caught him outside, he knew his excuse of being unable to sleep would not hold well.

"You're cold." Ginny pointed out. "You've been outside, haven't you?"

"It's way past midnight." Harry argued. "The whole castle is cold!"

Luna leaned towards him and sniffed deeply. "You smell fresh. Like wild grass and plants and cool air."

DJ choked on his tea. "Harry, please tell me you didn't go to… Percy's."

He bit his lip at the slip. Luna sat up in excitement. "Oh, did you? How is he? Oh no, I haven't written him a letter. When are you going to visit him next, Harry? I'll pass it to you then, you did promise, Harry."

Harry's shoulders slumped. "You… fine. Yeah, I went to Percy's."

Colin stared. "Is he your boyfriend?"

Ginny smirked. "Well…"

Harry elbowed her. He was surprised when he realized that he wasn't really irritated with her. Not any more. "No, Colin. Just a friend."

"A good friend is never just a friend." Luna said. She looked at Ginny, Colin and DJ with a fondness in her eyes. "They are more than that."

Harry smiled when the three of them flushed at the praise. He was starting to understand how close the four of them really were. It must be difficult for DJ and Ginny to keep the secrets of the Order and the demigod camp from Luna and Colin. He made a mental note to talk to them about it.

"Why did you leave the castle, Harry?" DJ asked, face still red.

Harry's mood plummeted. He didn't want to talk about the prophecy. Especially not to DJ. Especially not in front of the others.

"You had your session with Dumbledore." Colin recalled. He set his cup down. His eyes were wide as they always were when he looked towards Harry. Harry had guessed that Colin fancied him a bit. The hero-worship was all but gone, but there was still a good amount of watching on his part. People stared at him all the time, but usually at the scar. Colin watched his entirety.

Harry wasn't sure whether to feel happy to be admired or annoyed at the attention. Seeing as how close Colin and DJ were, he figured it was harmless.

"Yeah. It wasn't very… uplifting." Harry nodded, turning to look at Ginny to distract himself. She was a very good source of distraction. She wore a sleeve less top over her pyjamas. He could see the extent of her freckles that climbed up her arms and over the shoulders. Best of all, her arms were toned.

He stared. He could see the subtle outline of muscle that defined her upper arms. Her shoulders didn't look as skinny as he would have thought. It seemed like she exercised with weights. He could see a vein in her left lower arm. It was clear when she raised her mug of steaming tea to take a gulp.

Harry wondered when little, volatile Ginny had grown up to be hot, fun Ginny.

"Was it all theory?" DJ asked, oblivious. Ginny turned to look at Harry who immediately focused on his mug.

"Um, yes. Yes. The session. A lot of talking."

Luna was smiling at one of the elves who'd asked her if they wanted something else. Colin, however, was looking at Harry. He looked stunned. Taken aback. Harry swallowed. Colin was a good kid. He'd helped Harry with the photographs as discreet as he could and DJ honestly liked him. Harry didn't want to hurt him.

Colin lowered his head to sip from his tea in silence. He said nothing.

Harry looked away. "It was not a good night."

DJ seemed to notice the sudden sullenness and didn't ask anything else. Luna tilted her head in confusion. Ginny shrugged and Colin didn't look up. They finished their beverage and thanked the elves. They walked Luna back to the Ravenclaw tower and then returned to their own dorms.

Ten minutes later, they were all in their respective beds.

Harry looked up at the ceiling of his bed stretch. He couldn't stop thinking about everything that had happened. The talk of the prophecy, the inevitability of it, Grover's predicament, Percy's worry of the mind link…

Ginny and Colin.

Colin was not straight. Possibly gay, bisexual or just harbouring a crush on Harry. He tired not to feel bad about it. He didn't feel anything like that for Colin. But Ginny…

And here, Harry was wondering if he was gay himself.

Possibly bi. Yeah, that made sense. In fifth year, everyone was starting to look pretty damn fetching, to use Rachel's terminology. Dean had the perfect kind of height that Harry thought was best. Like Cedric. Seamus wasn't too bad. May be nice to look at but not really Harry's type. (Did he have a type?) Ron… well, no, not at all Harry's type, if he had one. Neville was … cute… he supposed. But maybe a little more assertion would boost his attraction.

Cedric really was a catch. Cho was so lucky…

Definitely not straight. Okay. He liked blokes… he liked Ginny. She wasn't a bloke. Leaning towards bi? Yeah… he'd snogged Thalia, after all. He'd liked that a lot.

Seeing her that night was a surprise. It felt a little awkward, but he steeled himself. She was a friend. She was loyal and fierce, ready to do what it takes to get the job done. She was worried about Grover and had scoured different sections of the country, searching for him. She was brilliant.

And off the market.

Harry shook his head. If he kept thinking like that, Artemis would turn him into a wolf as a best case scenario. And forget what Zeus would do to him.

Think of something else, damn it.

The prophecy, Grover, Voldemort, mind link, gods, Rachel.

Rachel. A sister that wasn't dead.

Harry felt all the frustration bubble up in his throat. He turned around, slammed his head into the pillow and screamed.

His dorm mates didn't wake up.

He inhaled when he'd spent all his energy. A pit formed in his stomach. The tea was coming back up. Harry threw himself off of the bed and rushed for the bathroom, he bent over the commode and threw up everything. The chocolate he'd made in the Jacksons' kitchen, the cookies he'd had and the tea.

Harry didn't realize when he'd started crying. His vision was blurred, his throat ached, his stomach kept heaving till there was nothing left. He reached up to pull the flush. He was still sobbing.

The tiles were cold and Harry rested his forehead on it, trying to breathe through his mouth. His breath was terrible. He closed his eyes, tried to think of something good…

 _After the thing with Rome, Annabeth explained as much as she could, starting with Ajax Furor. They said that Percy's mom had killed him but then you said that he was still alive afterwards._

Thalia's voice was clear. He remembered what she had said. The moment he thought of Ajax, he thought he was going to be sick again. A rush of memories assaulted him.

Rome. The Embassy. Ajax. His grin. The sick feeling of utter helplessness and fear. Ajax was insane. The way he'd stared at Harry…

Harry started to cry again. He'd wished the explosion had wiped all of his memories. He didn't want to remember that. His chest hitched and he couldn't breathe.

The light came on. The strength of it made him winced. He turned his head away.

"Harry?"

Harry curled into a foetal position. Neville sounded scared, but mostly worried.

"Are you… do you need help? I'll get some water."

Harry waited on the cold floor. It was nice. He wondered if he could sleep on it. It was harder than the floor in the building that had disintegrated in the blast, but there was no Ajax here.

"Can you sit up?" Neville asked. He leaned down and pressed his palm to Harry's forehead.

"I dunno." He mumbled.

"Should I… Shall I call someone? Do you need to go to the Hospital Wing?"

Neville was just trying to help. But all Harry could think of now was waking up in St. Mungo's, eyes bandaged because they had to be extensively healed, ear drums shattered, sixty percent of his skin re-grown because of the fourth degree burns.

 _Artemis spoke about certain artifacts… how they can get attached to you and you never even question it. How it could enhance your powers or drain you of it. How it could save your life, bring you back or kill you…_

His bracelet didn't let him die. What if Harry was really blessed with immortality? Was it even a blessing?

"I'll get someone." Neville said. Harry didn't say anything, trying to make sure he could breathe steadily. He felt tears leaking out and was angry. Why was he still crying? It was doing nothing for him. Why did people even cry? It was the most irrational thing about a person.

"Potter?"

McGonagall's voice was close to him. Harry's eyes were shut. How much time had passed? It couldn't have been that long. Was the meeting over?

What had he been thinking of? The bracelet? He was dead. He'd died. The first time was in 2002, Halloween. He and Percy… and mum?

Sally had a bracelet too.

"When did you find him, Longbottom?"

"Um, twenty minutes may be? I woke up when I heard him fall."

Harry had fallen? When? He didn't remember that. He pressed his forehead to the tiles.

His body shuddered. The coiled tension in his frozen muscles unraveled slowly. Harry kept his face hidden, but felt weightless.

"Do you have the mirror?"

"Yeah, professor."

"Call your parents. Tell them to send Sirius Black. I'm taken him to Poppy."

Everyone had a mirror now. Sirius and Remus had made them for the Order. It was a closed network. Harry hated mirrors. He hated his reflection.

There was a ghost in Privet Drive, house no. 3.

There were a lot of secrets. Percy didn't remember what happened when they'd been five. Harry did. Sally… where was she? She'd arrived later that day, looking about as dead as them. She'd taken it in stride, vowing to teach them how to fight, which she did.

Harry had killed ten men and left two witnesses. Percy and that little boy, Robert McCallister.

And Bolt.

Three witnesses.

Why had he killed those men? They'd killed him. Failed to make sure he was dead. Their fault.

Harry felt that bit of fierce detachment. A stone cold killer persona. He'd given them poison, watched them choke to death. Brought Percy, an innocent six year old then, to watch them die. Made Robert McCallister fatherless. Left him dead in his home.

Harry was murderer. He started to shake. His body was airborne as McGonagall took him to the Hospital Wing. He couldn't tell anyone. He hadn't told anyone for ten years. He was a murderer. Why had he killed them? They'd been the ones who had broken into the Jacksons' home. They'd brought a metal rod down on Sally's head. She'd bled out. They'd dragged Percy and Harry towards the basement.

Someone had ordered to eliminate the children. The boys would grow up to be someone worst enemies. That shouldn't happen. They had to be removed at the earliest possible chance. They were threats.

They broke all of Percy's bones by stuffing him into the small vent in the basement. Harry could hear the screaming. He remembered that vividly until the explosion in Rome. Now, all he recalled was that Percy had screamed. He didn't have the memory of it.

They drowned Harry. That iron crate in the basement that had held some of Gabe's stuff. It was filled with tap water. Percy couldn't save him. He was dead. Harry had heard that. He had iron shackles bound to his hand. He held his breath as long as he could. Then he started to thrash and shriek under water. They closed the lid.

Hours later, when Harry woke up, he remembered it all. Percy didn't. If Harry was happy about that, he didn't show it. The boys woke up in the forest, their safe space. They were intrigued by the shiny bracelets.

Harry remembered their faces. He found them and killed them all. None of them had bracelets. They weren't blessed.

It had seemed like the right decision. Vengeance was almost perfect. Harry had spent months planning how to exterminate them and not leave any trace. He couldn't make it violent. As gratifying as it would have been, it would indicate to the coppers as to who the possible suspects could be. Even if Harry had been six years old… he was smart and clinical about it.

Nobody suspected him.

Bolt didn't know. He'd made sure that she would be busy when he'd killed Ford McCallister. Percy had been too young to remember it. Robert would be a problem, but like Harry had said, vengeance was important. If Robert had a problem with it, he could come after Harry.

Harry started to cry again. He didn't want to be a murderer. Why had they come after him and Percy in the first place?

* * *

 **Stay tuned!**

 **Q: Name the god/goddess of revenge.**

 **Cabba.**


	14. Prescription for the dead

**A: Nemesis is the Greek and Roman goddess of revenge, retribution and balance. Good job, Sherlock Harry Winchester and ShadeofDeath746!**

 **brade1991 – a summoning ritual would destroy the wizarding world, for sure. Or send them all spiraling into Tartarus. Percy is not going to give up on Grover, but you never know with Tom.**

 **Welcome to new readers and reviewers! (I'm looking at you,** **.1** **)** **  
Guest - ? Anniversary of the Nagasaki bombing. What relevance does it have to the story?**

 **I didn't put up a warning tag because I wanted you to be surprised from the flood of Harry's meltdown. If you've had problems with it, inform me at once and I will put up tags to warn you in advance.**

 **Phoebe of the Hunters of Artemis was older than Zoe in canon. But I keep finding that unrealistic. I made her younger, but she will have a lot to say about history.**

 **Listening to – Losing My Religion by Z.E.M.**

* * *

Unfortunately, Percy knew someone who was dead but whose body hadn't decomposed. He kept a tight lock on that thought. The warning bells had gone off in his head and the way Tom's eyes seemed to glint a strange red… it couldn't be anything good.

He managed to nod, a stiffness growing in his neck. He rubbed the skin of his nape.

Tom let him sleep but Percy couldn't. He kept his eyes closed, paced out his breaths and calmed down as much as he could. He couldn't fall asleep. His body fought against the tiredness. He felt like screaming.

It had been a while since Percy had wanted to scream. He remembered the time when Sally had taken him and Harry to the edge of the cliff across Crescent forest. A place no other soul would have visited except unless there were adventurers and Privet Drive was the last place one would find adventurers. Percy remembered rendering his throat hoarse. It had felt good to vent.

He should do that now. He needed to get out of the house, get away from everyone and scream.

Percy turned onto his side, fists twisting his sheet viciously. He kept his mouth firmly closed. He stayed like that till the sun rose, till his body ached from the stiff position it was in. Tom hadn't appeared yet. Percy had the strangest feeling that he'd gone somewhere.

He kept his eyes closed as he heard Nico yawn and stretch. His cousin shifted restlessly on his bed till he got up, muttering about school. It was Tuesday. Percy cringed. So much had happened the previous day. Grover, Tom, the monster, Harry, Bianca…

The Hunters.

Percy sprang out of bed, nearly falling over. He rushed out of the room, running into Nico in the short hallway.

"Whoa! What, Percy! What's the rush?"

"Um, nothing…" Percy peeked into the living room. The hunters were still there. Most of them were eating waffles while the rest were packing up their bunks. He saw Thalia and Phoebe in a furious conversation in the under end of the room. They were glaring, but not at each other. Whatever they were talking about had infuriated them enough.

"Good Morning, Percy, Nico. I'm glad you're up early." Sally said, poking her head through the kitchen door. Percy saw Bianca and Natalie with Sally, looking around the kitchen in curiosity.

"Good morning." Nico said, grinning at Bianca. She smiled. "Morning, squirt."

"Hey! We're almost the same height now!"

" 'Almost' must mean half a foot, then."

"Morning." Percy replied, looking around. He still felt that Tom might have been eavesdropping on the Hunters. That or one of them had figured out that there was some _substantial spirit_ in the house. But Bianca and Nico remained oblivious.

"I'll make extra for you to pack." Sally told Bianca.

"You don't have to do that, Ms. Jackson. We're on our way to Camp, plenty of food there."

"But you'll be travelling there, won't you? Just a bit. There's no point in going hungry to be polite." Sally said, raising an eyebrow.

Natalie nodded, happy with more waffles.

"Jackson!" Phoebe barked from the hall. Both Sally and Percy walked out of the kitchen to look at her.

"May we borrow Percy, Ms. Jackson?" Thalia said. She sounded weird being so courteous.

Sally had barely nodded when Thalia and Phoebe had pulled Percy closer to the bathroom at the end of the hallway. He saw Nico and Natalie look at them in confusion before Thalia pushed him into the bathroom at closed the door.

The room wasn't exactly big enough for three people. The cold tiles made Percy shudder as much as Phoebe's frustration did.

"Um… what's…"

"Hold still." Phoebe warned.

"And take a deep breath." Thalia added. Percy's eyes darted from one hunter to the other.

Phoebe raised her hands like she was about to cup them on either sides of his temple. Percy's eyes widened. What was she doing?

"Relax, Percy." Phoebe said. Her voice was calmer now. Percy inhaled and tried to still his fast beating heart. Phoebe closed her eyes. "Think about Grover."

This was about Grover? Percy nodded, exhaling with a _whoosh_. Focusing on Grover was no problem, but he realized that if Phoebe was trying to get into his head, would she see Tom?

 _No,_ Tom said.

He hadn't appeared to Percy, but his voice was loud in his head. Then he said no more and Percy swallowed, staring at the frown that appeared on Phoebe's forehead. It was easy to be wary of Phoebe. She was built sturdily like Clarisse with strong beefy arms. She was taller than Percy, even more than Sally in her heels. Not to mention, she seemed to hate guys even more than the other girls. He wasn't sure what Thalia had said to make her help Percy. May be it had to do with Grover being classified more as a satyr than a boy.

Phoebe grunted and lowered her arms. "It seems fine."

"Then why isn't it working?" Thalia growled.

"What're you talking about?" He asked them. Phoebe huffed and pulled the door with more force than necessary. She stomped out.

"Phoebe is our best healer. She was trying to find if there was something wrong with the mind link." Thalia said.

"Oh." Percy looked down. If the mind link was fine… why couldn't he find Grover… unless…

 _It's not me._ Tom said. His voice was loud and it startled Percy. Thalia looked at him in surprise when he jumped.

"What?" She asked.

"N… nothing." He stammered. His stomach growled and Percy coughed. "I'm just hungry."

"That's obvious." She snorted. She still looked at him, suspicious. "Still, I'm going to Camp, so I might as well tell you."

"Tell me what?"

"The same thing I told Harry yesterday." Thalia looked around the bathroom with the same interest as Natalie in the kitchen. "About your bracelets."

"Annabeth says it's an armlet." Percy said automatically.

"Hmm…" Thalia nodded. "Tell me. When did you get them?"

Percy shifted on the spot. "I'm not really… I don't remember what happened… when we were little… Harry and I, when we were five, I think. Harry knows more, but he won't say."

"He's never said anything? Did you ever ask?"

"No. Every time we talked about it, he'd have this look. Like if I pushed the issue, he'd start closing down. So I never said anything."

Thalia frowned. "And you were never curious about it? This thing is stuck to your arm, Percy. How stupid are you? It's been on you for ten years and you've never questioned it?"

"There are times when I'd forget it." Percy snapped. "It feels like it should be there. Like it keeps me safe. Me and Harry."

She glared at him. "Those life saving incidents happened recently. What about all those years when it did nothing? What about then? You and Harry didn't even see each other for… what?"

"Six years." Percy muttered, looking away.

Thalia shook her head. "Percy, this isn't good. What if it's blocking your mind link? Did you ever think of that?"

"It isn't."

"How d'you know?"

"I just do!"

Percy wanted to yell at her. He hated the cross examination because she was asking all the questions he'd successfully avoided for years.

"Would you bet Grover's life on it?" Thalia's voice was acidic. "Artemis said that he's the only satyr that spoke up against the Council and that may be the reason he's missing. What if someone's taken him because he acknowledged that Pan's dead and that camp has to prepare for the war from all quarters? What if the Titan army captured him?"

"You mean what if Luke took him?" Percy pointed out, feeling vindictive. "Is that what you're really worried? That Luke might hurt him?"

Thalia went rigid. If she acted strangely around Harry, it was nothing compared to how she was whenever Luke was mentioned. Percy saw a crackle of electricity in her short cropped hair and he took a step back, alarmed.

Percy raised his hand to the back of his neck as Thalia closed her eyes and willed herself to calm down. He felt the cold metal chain of the locket. He shifted it as much as he could but there was a strange pressure around it and it stayed put.

"Luke… won't hurt him…" Thalia whispered. Percy was tempted to point out that Luke was no longer in control, that Kronos had taken over his body –

… possessed it…

Percy's breathe hitched. _Oh gods_.

Tom was a spirit. He was using Percy's energy to increase his own powe –

"Grover was once his friend. He won't hurt him." Thalia said mostly to convince herself. Percy struggled to bring himself back into the conversation, praying that Tom hadn't found out what he'd thought.

But what if Tom could find Grover? Shouldn't Percy at least try?

But what if Tom was the person to take Grover in the first place? Percy couldn't trust him.

Thalia turned towards him. She looked a little shaken, but didn't seem inclined to shock him with electricity. She walked past him and out into the hallway, to stand by the kitchen. Percy followed her, his thoughts in disarray.

"Thalia!" Sally called from the kitchen. "You haven't had any waffles. And Percy, have you brushed your teeth?"

"No…"

"Get to it, then. No sense in dawdling even if you're early for once." She chastised him. Natalie and Nico giggled as he walked back to the bathroom, thinking wildly.

 _She's very good. I almost didn't feel it_. Tom muttered. He appeared in the bathroom and Percy closed the door, knowing the others wouldn't see him, but still.

"What did Phoebe do?" Percy whispered, plucking his toothbrush from the stand. There were four in it. One each for Sally, Nico, Percy and…

Sirius. Percy frowned at it, shaking his head. It must be getting serious. His mother hadn't really said anything about it. Sirius had hardly stayed over since term began, but the fact that his toothbrush was in the stand picked at Percy's nerves. It was silly. Sirius was dependable.

Tom was staring at the toothbrush too. Percy grabbed the toothpaste and shut the cabinet. He continued, "Did she sense you?"

 _No. Like I told you._ Tom replied.

"Then what happened?"

The spirit shrugged, leaning against the tiled wall. _She did a cursory inspection, searching specifically for the link. And like I said, it was there, but unresponsive, which means, Grover is still out there. Nobody can find him, not even you._

Percy squeezed too much toothpaste on his brush.

"You said you could find him." He muttered.

Tom smiled, tilting his head towards Percy. _I did._

"Were you telling the truth?"

 _Would I lie to you?_

That wasn't an answer. Percy started to brush his teeth. He tried to make it look like he was thinking it over. But deep inside, he knew that there was something off. Phoebe had been in his head and couldn't sense Tom. Whatever he was, it was more than just some imaginary friend or spirit. Tom had somehow latched himself to Percy…

The word 'latched' hit him as bad as possession did. Percy bit the bristles of his brush. It was like the bracelet that was stuck to his skin. Like Tom was stuck to Percy… because of the locket.

 _Demigod take heart,_ Kreacher had said. He'd said that to get Tom out of the house, away from him. Percy thought to where the locket was. It took some deep struggle to not alert Tom as to what he was doing. Percy continued to brush, more meticulous than he usually did.

He was wearing the locket. He suddenly felt the cold metal resting against the skin above his own heart. Percy stared at his reflection in the mirror cabinet. He couldn't see Tom's reflection. But he was there, standing just behind him. Percy bent to spit.

"Why do you need a body?" Percy asked after he'd rinsed.

Tom raised both eyebrows in a careless gesture. _I told you. I haven't practiced magic in a long time. It was one thing to find Nico, but I'd need to exercise more power to find someone that no one else can. If I can practice a few spells on a body –_

"But why a body?" Percy asked again, trying to keep his voice low.

Tom gave him an almost cold look. It was replaced with a blank expression like he was in deep thought. _There's a lot of theory involved with flesh that has just lost its vitality. There are certain spells that will show best results with recently dead flesh._

Tom sounded amused. _It's not like I'm going to kill anyone. I just need a corpse. And I know you know where to find one._

Percy's heart nearly stopped when he saw Tom's reflection materialize behind his own. It wasn't there before. He shuddered when he thought he felt Tom's breath on his neck.

 _I can find Grover._ He said, staring at his eyes in the mirror. _But you need to help me first._

The locket was growing colder and Percy felt like he couldn't move for his life. Then he steeled himself and said, "Alright."

 _Good._ Tom grinned at him. His eyes sparkled.

Percy had no intention of helping him. The first thing he'd to do was to figure out a way to get the locket away from his chest and, somehow, lock Tom back into it.

* * *

The hospital wing smelled different. Pomfrey must have changed the floor cleaner. The regular lime scent had been replaced by jasmine. The difference was soothing in a way. Harry kept his eyes closed, body stretched out on the bed, even though it was nearly ten in the morning and the rest of the castle had gone on its usual routine.

He'd broken for a moment. And then he couldn't stop the flood. Harry shook his head. After a vial of calming draught, he'd felt much better. But McGonagall had gone ahead and had flooed Sirius and Remus. Harry had hoped they'd be too busy with Order work, but both men had reached in the morning and was now discussing Harry's _condition_ with the Headmaster, Head of the house and Healer.

The dark green curtains had been drawn but the voices were clear. Sirius was not happy.

"… I don't care! Snape's obviously not helping! He had a bloody breakdown!"

"Sirius, Occlumency training is never easy. It is not a solution to blame a single individual –" Dumbledore was interrupted by a string of swear words that Harry would have been interested to hear any other day. But now he sighed as quietly as he could and looked up at the nightstand where his wand lay. There was a pocket sneakoscope beside it that was quiet and motionless. But it wasn't necessary. Around Harry's left wrist was a band of blue light. The pulse recorder let out the exact pace of his heart and Harry stared at the bold **74** on the band. It was a healthy number. He was absolutely fine.

Sirius wasn't letting go of it, though.

Remus said, "The key point here is that Harry needs help and not just the magical kind."

Harry's nostrils flared. Did they still think he needed a shrink?

He heard the main doors to the ward open. There was a stutter and a young girl's voice was heard. "Um… Madam Pomfrey…?"

"Here, child. Is it an emergency?"

Harry heard footsteps. The others were quiet.

"No! Actually, Nellie needs… well, she just got… " The girl sounded very nervous.

Dumbledore spoke with renewed vigour, "Poppy, by your leave."

"Yes, of course Headmaster."

More footsteps. The three men left and the girl gave a huge sigh.

"Come in, Akira. Nellie, do you need a check up?"

"No… I'll ask Professor Sprout to call my mum. It's fine." A quieter voice said.

Madam Pomfrey walked with brisk steps. She stepped into her office and the girls started to whisper furiously. Unfortunately, Harry caught every word.

"Did you hear what Romilda was saying after Herbology?"

"Oh no. Was it …"

"She got the potion! Her cousin sent it by mail!"

"No way! Is she really gonna do it?"

Harry heard one of them scoff. "She's being bragging since last year. But until today, I thought she's all bark and no bite. I mean, seriously, if she thinks that dosing Harry Potter with a love potion is going to go well…!"

It felt like his mind had gone blank. Love potion? Romilda?

"But I thought Mason said he was gay?"

"Mason wishes. He's been pining for him even more than Colin Creevey, you know."

"What about that boy last year? Rita Skeeter had done an article on Harry and this other kid."

"Oh yeah, the cute one. I think they're just friends."

"What if they aren't though?! What if he's really gay?"

Madam Pomfrey walked out of her office and the girls went quiet, probably accepting whatever they had come into the ward for. Harry turned his head, but couldn't see them through the slim gap in the curtain.

"The bathroom's over there, Nellie." She said.

Nellie thanked her and Harry heard her soft shoe squeaks on the floor as she headed for the washroom. Akira then asked the Healer about a remedy for acne. Harry exhaled slowly so as to not draw attention.

Did people really wonder if he was gay? He knew that Colin might have liked him, but to hear a confirmation, even if it was just a rumour, that there were people who fancied him…

This Romilda worried him the most. A love potion. Did she actually plan to give it to him? May be it was lucky that he was in the hospital wing where the only things he was allowed to ingest were what Pomfrey prescribed.

Still, on top of everything that was going on, he didn't need this.

Harry was sure he wasn't gay. Bisexual at least, even if he didn't know the exact definition of it.

"Is that him? Is Harry Potter here?" Akira's excited whisper was barely a whisper. Madam Pomfrey made a sound of loftiness as she scolded the girl for her lack of tact.

"But is he okay? Why is he sleeping here?"

"Akira Reynolds, you know I can't discuss patient terms with others. Here, she comes. Both of you go back to class. Nellie, if you need anything –"

"I'll be okay, Madam Pomfrey, thanks." Nellie said, sounding a little relieved.

The Healer walked back into the office and the two girls headed for the doors. They were still whispering and the silence in the large room magnified their words.

"Why does he keep ending up in the hospital wing? Is there something wrong with him?" Nellie asked as they left.

Harry thought that was a very good question. The obvious thing was that he'd crumbled from the pressure. It was easy to blame Ajax, but what could he do after that? How the hell was he supposed to forget Rome and move on? He'd been kidnapped and hurt. Ajax had tormented him, made him feel powerless in a way even Voldemort hadn't. Harry had died there. And he was in bed thinking of this, wondering what was truly wrong with him.

He'd died there.

The bracelet brought him back, Thalia had surmised. Why though? How?

Who was helping him?

Harry bit his lip. Yes, he was most probably bisexual. No doubt about that. There could be no other explanation as to why he liked thinking of muscles whether they were on Thalia or Ginny or Cedric or the two men from the gay pride parade in Rome.

He missed Ivy, Iris and Kacie. He wondered what they were up to.

His mind was all over the place. When he was in their jeep, they'd managed to make him feel safe, even though his heart had been pounding, feet ready to run at any sign of danger. They'd made sure he was awake the whole night to avoid complications with his concussion.

Harry smiled. He'd kept calling it caucasian and cushions.

All he'd wanted to do was sleep. A proper eight hour deep, undisturbed sleep.

Suddenly, the answer was right in front of him. All he needed was to be allowed to have a proper dosage of the Dreamless Sleep potion. He knew that Madam Pomfrey wouldn't prescribe it, especially with his admittance at St. Mungo's where Healer Calles had warned him against taking strong medications.

So, he needed to see someone else who had the authority to let him have the potion.

Harry rolled his eyes. Sirius might just get his way.

* * *

"And we can leave anytime you want, Harry."

"Yes, Sirius."

"Just say the word and we're gone."

"I got it."

"I'm very proud of you. You know that, don't you, Harry?"

If he wasn't so tired, he would have gotten annoyed, but really, Harry just nodded. Remus seemed to understand and he nudged Sirius to back off for a while. The three of them were seated in the waiting area of Healer Mantis clinic. The receptionist's eyes darted every so often towards them. There were a witch and a young boy sitting in the front row. Occasionally, she would turn back with no subtle implications.

After a few minutes, Sirius glared at her so hard that she turned ahead and stared at the clock above the receptionist. The boy had his head on her lap, looking like he was asleep. Harry envied him.

A few minutes, he promised himself. He'd talk to Mantis, let him know how troubled he was from the lack of sleep, stress on the factor that he needed rest like every other living being, and get the recommendation. No mess, no fuss.

"So, I spoke to him in advance, to set the appointment." Sirius muttered. Harry nodded. "He had no problem, so here's the deal. You can talk to him about anything."

"Really? Anything?"

"Anything and everything under the sun." Remus assured. "Even if it means things that others aren't aware of."

Harry sat up straight. "When you say… like… camp?"

He couldn't talk about that! Only a limited number of people knew about the demigods. Harry couldn't just throw away that information."

"If it's necessary –"

"Sirius, I can't do that! Not about them." Harry hissed.

"Mantis is under the oath. He can't talk to anyone about what you say to him, except may be me –"

But Harry shook his head. No way would he open Camp up to anyone. If anything happened to them, it would be his fault.

Sirius frowned but didn't push the point. Instead he said, "Fine. Just… okay, you can speak to him about Rome."

Harry flinched. Remus squeezed his shoulder. "And if you want, he will not tell us anything about it. Everything you say will be for his ears only. And he will not judge you. Do you understand me, Harry?"

It took him a solid minute before he could do more than nod, uncertain of the situation. Harry wanted nothing more than to forget about Rome and Ajax, but he wanted to remember Iris, Ivy and Kacie and the couple that had hugged him and had tried to help him even though they were drunk, and the healer that had patched him up in the Embassy. He didn't want to remember leaving Percy alone with Ajax, yet he couldn't let himself to discard that memory. Forgetting everything made him feel like a coward.

The door on the right opened and a wizard, an inch taller than Flitwick walked out. His long pink pointed hat reminded Harry of the Sorting Hat with all of its rips and tears.

"Potter, Harry." The receptionist called, looking excited. Harry stood up, nodded at Sirius and Remus encouraging smile, and walked into the room.

Healer Aron B. Mantis looked even balder than the last time. The hair above his ears seemed to have receeded. His white, waxy face was stretched and his eyes had a tinge of red in the irises that hadn't been very noticeable before and Harry wondered if it was a natural colour.

"Good afternoon, Harry." Mantis greeted him. His smiled was sincere and Harry nodded, "Good afternoon, sir…"

"You can call me Mantis." He assured him. "Take your seat."

"I'd rather… stand." Harry gripped the back of the chair, looking around the room. There was a large recliner near the corner that looked so inviting that he wanted to try it and see if he could sleep in it.

"So, what changed your mind?"

Harry turned back to him. "I need some shut eye. That's it. I had a solid meltdown in the morning, because I didn't sleep. I hadn't taken my muscle relaxers. I thought I could skip it since it was the last day."

"Did the castle's healer diagnose it as a meltdown?" He asked, making a note in his small book.

Harry leaned on the chair. "No… she said…"

Mantis would know what she'd said. Sirius had relayed everything that had happened since Neville had found Harry.

"She said it was an anxiety attack." He muttered. A breakdown made it seem temporary. Harry didn't like what Pomfrey had said.

Mantis nodded, still looking attentive. "And what do you think?"

He tried not to roll his eyes. "I think it was an overreaction. I didn't have my potion, didn't get to sleep, my body panicked. That's all."

"Panic attacks are no small problems, Harry. During those few moments, you'd believed you were in danger."

"But I wasn't! It's silly."

Mantis sat up. "Do you really think it's silly?"

Harry let go of the chair and walked around the room. "It's not as bad as she makes it out to be. I mean anxiety attacks are like a stretch."

Harry raised his hands as to emphasize his statement. Mantis nodded slowly.

"Your healer from St. Mungo's sent over a report. If it's alright with you I'll read a section of it aloud."

Harry shrugged. He'd read it when they'd thought he'd been asleep. It was a shock at first, but now…

" _Patient has significant memory loss regarding the incident and from previous years. Initial analysis indicates regain is possible, but the obstacle of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder will hinder progress. Highly recommend mind healing therapy for long term secure psychological health."_

Mantis set the file down. "You said you remember what happened in Rome."

Harry tried to not shift his gaze. The healer's eyes were unlike anything he'd seen before. "More or less."

"Then the reason for the anxiety attack is clear. Harry, your PTSD will strike you with these attacks till you can overcome the root cause of the fear. And even then it can be a slow process."

"This can happen again?"

"Undoubtedly."

That wasn't part of the plan. He'd assumed that all he needed was some sleep…

"How are your Occlumency lessons?"

Harry snorted. "I hate my teacher, he hates me. You can imagine how the lessons are."

Mantis frowned. "That's not a good foundation. I would suggest you change your teacher. Or at least come to a more civil ground with the current one."

"That's not gonna happen."

"Let's try before we give up." Mantis started to write something in his book again. "Now tell me about your midnight adventure."

Harry groaned. Sirius had talked to Neville, Ron and then Ginny and DJ. The latter two confessed to Harry having gone to Manhattan.

"It's… nothing… I just needed to talk to someone."

"Someone in a different country?"

"May be, yeah!"

The healer looked at him again. Suddenly, there were a lot of words bubbling up in his throat. He needed to say something. If it wasn't about Ajax…

"I wanted to talk to Rachel."

Harry couldn't believe he'd said it out loud. Mantis watched him. "Alright. Who is Rachel?"

"My… sister."

It was a long conversation. Harry spilled everything about her. He hadn't realized how much he had wanted to talk about her. He'd spent so much time staying away that it wanted him to be all the more closer. After Rachel, he talked about his session of baking that he always did in the Jackson household he talked about his guitar and how he hadn't played in a long while. He talked about his sleepless nights unless he had his meds…

He didn't talk about Rome.

At the end of the hour, Mantis tore the prescription paper from the note pad. Harry rushed forwards, grabbed it and ran out of the room.

"Harry –" Sirius sounded startled as Harry raced out of the clinic, crossed the road and stood in front of the glass display behind which he could see an old doll.

"Harry Potter, here. I need to go to the pharmacy."

The doll nodded and Harry stepped through the glass and reached the reception area of St. Mungo's. He crossed the desk, the seats, ignoring all the people who stared at him and walked up to the wizard reading a magazine behind the counter of the pharmacy.

"Emergency. I need this now." Harry said, slapping the prescription in front of the man. He looked up from his magazine with a bored gaze and took the slip of paper. He read the entire thing and gave it back to Harry.

"No can do, kid."

"Wha…" Harry gaped. "What d'you mean… all you have to do is give me _that_ potion!" He jabbed his finger to point at a stack of Dreamless Sleep Vials arranged on a side shelf. At this point, Harry would take the Draught of Living Death just to relax.

" 'S not what the paper says." The man was slurring like Stan Shunpike. Harry glared at him and finally took a good look at the prescription.

 _Change Occlumency teacher._

 _Four hours sleep (12 to 4) in the morning and four hour sleep (4 to 8) in the evening. Space out the day between this and class._

 _Spend half an hour every day on the guitar._

 _Have a conversation with Rachel at least once a week, supervised or not by guardians._

 _Spend an hour flying (not Quidditch) outside, everyday._

 _Spend an hour cooking/baking once a week. This can take place in Hogwarts kitchens, or at the guardian's house under supervision._

 _If regular sessions are not scheduled, meet me in a month's time (or earlier if preferred) for a diagnosis._

* * *

Percy had stuffed the box into his bag before he'd left for school. Now, it was past midnight, a very early Wednesday morning. No one was in sight. He and Tom stood in front of SoHo museum that was closed for renovation for one of the wings.

The streetlight blinked out. Tom smiled was wide. _Well, this should be easy. Are you ready?_

Percy thought about the metal box that Kreacher had kept the locket in. It had the Black insignia on it which meant it wasn't part of Tom's magic. It had successfully sealed him in it for years, if Tom's story was true.

"Ready." He mumbled.

They walked up the steps with one common goal in mind - to find Gabriel Ugliano's statue.

* * *

 **Next chapter's going to have a twist. Stay tuned!**

 **Q: When was Harry successful in completely blocking Voldemort from his head in canon?**

 **Cabba.**


	15. One step forwards

**I swear I had this ready days ago, but the site wasn't loading it. Fixed now. Any problems, inform me at once!**

 **A: In Deathly Hallows, when Harry, Ron and Hermione stand at the end of Shell Cottage, Harry can see exactly what Voldemort was doing but was a 'master of pain'. He'd finally learnt how to block out the dark lord.  
People didn't actually get this, but your answers are something I haven't thought of. (Dept of Mysteries, when Harry was hit by the killing curse…) Good job!**

 **Seriously, no summoning charm.**

 **Thanks for all the reviews. They make my day and make me churn out these chapters faster than usual. This one is longer.**

 **Listening to – Ready, Aim, Fire by Imagine Dragons**

* * *

 _Wednesday, 19_ _th_ _Sept.  
SoHo Museum for Contemporary Art – 2:10 a.m._

Percy and Tom had spent the whole day planning. They just weren't doing it together and neither of them were preparing for the same thing.

Tom's idea was to experiment on Gabe's petrified form. Whatever it was, it would take a lot of energy and would exhaust him for a few seconds. Percy would have to act during the moments that Tom would have his guard down. He'd have to rip the locket from his chest (where it was already sticking to the skin) and shove it back into the box. If the locket or Tom resisted… well, Percy wasn't named best swordsman in three centuries for nothing. He wasn't bad with a dagger either.

The problem was that there was too much left to wing it. He wasn't a master strategist like Annabeth. Amidst focusing on tracking where the statue was, Percy had tried not to think about his own plan to put Tom away. And may be if he was successful, he'd be able to get the locket to Sirius and Remus and let them take care of it.

It was difficult. Percy could sometimes feel like he had no thoughts in his head. It was rare and rather fun. But then, the stray thought would streak by and the deluge of random nonsense would clutter around distracting him completely. May be that's how he could hide from Tom. Hide what he really thought under a bunch of addresses to all the Sweet On America bakeries in the city.

Sally had sold the statue to a private collector through the gallery, but there was to be a gala in the museum in the coming week, so 'The Poker Player' was packed away in the basement while last minute renovations took place in another section of the building.

 _Use the mist to mask our entry_ , Tom said. Percy exhaled, shouldering his bag and raising an arm. They stood outside the main entrance of the museum. The closed gate was made of iron and there was a camera trained at it. They were just outside its range.

Percy concentrated on the task and snapped his fingers. It worked better than Tom had hoped. The air shimmered over them and, feeling unsure, he walked forwards and pulled open the door that Tom had magically opened.

No alarms. He let out a breath. They walked into the antechamber and headed for the stairs. Basement was two floors below the parking lot. Tom looked around at the large posters that had been set up for whatever social event was scheduled. His mouth turned down. Percy caught a look of disinterest and disgust as though the sheer lack of magic seemed to taint the very air.

Percy felt the locket grow cold and sharp. The longer Tom spent time with him, the faster it stuck to his chest. Percy wasn't sure if he could just pull it off. At this rate, he might have to dig into the skin and yank –"

 _Is that him?,_ Tom said, amused. Percy stopped walking. They were in a dark room only illuminated by the soft glow that Tom had created over the ceiling. It shone over many carefully set up paintings and sculptures.

'The Poker Player' sat at a table arranged like a demonstration piece. Percy shuddered. Gabe looked ten times terrifying in stone. His ugly expression was mixed with surprise. It was frozen on his stone face. The slouching posture, the arms propped up still holding a losing hand, the unflattering essence of the man as all still preserved, but very dead.

 _Incredible_ , Tom muttered, leaning over the statue to look at it. Percy kept his distance. He could still recall the smell.

 _It's perfect. Your mother wouldn't have kept Medusa head, perchance, would she?_ He asked.

Percy blanched. "Wha – ? No! She got rid of it!"

 _Hmm. How would a muggle and mortal get rid of a monster?_

Percy had never given a thought to that. His mom had assured him that she'd destroyed it… oh.

Tom looked up, inquisitive. _So, she has a dagger as well? How does she handle it if it's made out of celestial bronze?_

"I don't know. Can… can we get on with this?!" Percy hissed.

Tom smirked. There was no humour in it. _Of course. Stand back, please._

Percy took a few steps back, looking around. There were no cameras in the basement. But the hallways were covered. The mist would hold for a while. This needed to happen as quick as possible.

Tom lifted his hand, palm open, outwards, toward the statue. He closed his eyes.

Percy took out his dagger as subtle as he could.

The glow from the ceiling held. Percy watched the floor as his shadow pulsed along with the shifting light. As he watched, Tom's body, which didn't cast a shadow before, slowly started to make one. The floor beneath his feet grew dark. Percy watched in horror. A shadow molded itself, as though Tom was becoming real. His raised hand started to glow as well. It was covered with throbbing shades of red melting into the darkness. Percy watched the red and black shimmers grow brighter.

The statue began to glow as well. There was a cracking sound like the concrete was breaking. Percy froze. Was Tom destroying it?

Shatter lines appeared on the grey surface. The sounds grew louder. There was a strange smell in the air. At first, Percy thought there was smoke. Then he recognized the growing stale stench emanating from the statue.

"No!" Percy gasped. "What're you doing?!"

Tom tilted his head, eyes still closed. He looked mildly annoyed. Percy let his bag slip off his shoulders. The cards in the statue's hold had just fallen to the table.

Stop, Percy wanted to scream. He stumbled backwards and hit the wall. His dagger pressed against the side of his thighs, almost cutting the denim of his pants.

Tom's arm began to shake. The look of concentration had morphed into that of frustration. Act now. Percy brought the dagger up. His hand was shaking as much as Tom's.

The statue cracked from top to bottom. Tom let out a gasp as he doubled over like someone had punched him in the gut. Percy felt like he was hit by the Delphi Strawberries van.

The concrete crumbled away, falling into clumps on the ground. It looked like it had only been a thin layer over the person underneath. Tom shook his head, dazed from the overload. Percy tore his eyes away from the statue that looked more human by the second. He lifted his dagger, placed the point below the locket and dug in.

The blade cut into his skin. Percy used both hands to push the dagger flat against the chest and free the locket from its place.

Tom's head jerked up. He stared at Percy, panting, completely out of breath. _What are you doing?!_

His words were a scream. Percy cried in pain as he grabbed the chain pulled, using both it and the dagger to rip the locket away from his skin. It didn't tear any skin or flesh, but had been a near thing. The locket burned hot in his hand and he dropped it to the ground.

Tom fell to the ground at the exact moment the locket clattered, heavy and bulky.

Percy pounced on his bag, pulling it open to drag out the metal box.

 _Percy –_

Percy pulled his sleeve over his palm and grabbed the chain that was still painful to touch. The locket bounced, trying to get away.

 _PERCY!_ Tom shrieked. He sounded unearthly, a monster of some sort. Percy pushed the chain in and shut the lid. He pressed both forearms over the box as the locket struggled to get out. Tom's eyes seemed to glow red.

Then he disappeared. He vanished from sight. The glow from the ceiling receded and everything went quiet.

The locket stopped moving. Percy didn't shift. He had no way to keep the box secure. He wasn't sure if he could use the mist to lock a box.

Unfortunately, that was the least of his problems. His chest ached from the self wound and his left palm had been burned from the cursed locket. And it was pitch black. There was no light and Percy had no idea where the switches were. He shifted to his side, still putting as much weight as he could on the box and brought his other hand towards his pocket to pull out his phone. He swiped it open and turned on the flash.

Someone groaned in pain. Percy aimed the light in the direction of the noise. His heart thudded in his chest and sweat broke out. The stench was powerful now.

The statue was no longer a statue. A man lay on the ground beside the chair The Poker Player had been seated. Percy was looking at the barely moving form of his step dad. Smelly Gabe was alive.

* * *

 _Wednesday, 19_ _th_ _Sept._  
 _Hogwarts – 8:00 a.m._

Harry glared at the prescription in his hands. Yesterday, he'd nearly had a tantrum at St. Mungo's. Sirius had talked to him in a strange and stern fashion. They'd dropped him off at Hogwarts for a proper contemplation on what to do and today, he was seated in Dumbledore's office along with Sirius and Remus who were conversing with the Headmaster. He should have been listening to them, but he found it impossible to look away from the instructions.

 _ **Change Occlumency teacher.**_

He liked that one. But they'd enforced the fact time and again that Snape was the best and not many people were supposed to know of Harry's secret lessons. Other than the Order and Mantis and now the pharmacy's keeper, that is.

 _ **Four hours sleep (12 to 4) in the morning and four hour sleep (4 to 8) in the evening. Space out the day between this and class.**_

What did that even mean? Well, Mantis had explained it but Harry had fumed at the thought of needing a nap in the evening. Instead of two continuous R.E.M. cycles as people usually had overnight, Mantis decided a change in his sleep patterns might help before going for a potion. A gap of 12 hours between the sleep sessions might make Harry more tired when he did have to sleep.

It still sounded childish.

 _ **Spend half an hour every day on the guitar.**_

Seriously?

 _ **Have a conversation with Rachel at least once a week, supervised or not by guardians.**_

SERIOUSLY! Harry had poured out the one thing he hadn't wanted to and Mantis had to focus on that. The whole idea of not wanting to talk to or even about Rachel was to make sure that she'd be safe from Voldemort and the Death Eaters and the entire Wizarding World. And then Mantis turns around and makes this a 'part of his therapy'?

 _ **Spend an hour flying (not Quidditch) outside, everyday.**_

No problem. He still had problems thinking of catching a snitch, but flying was one thing to which he was looking forward. That and the guitar. He didn't mind that.

 _ **Spend an hour cooking/baking once a week. This can take place in Hogwarts kitchens, or at the guardian's house under supervision.**_

Really? This was just getting silly now.

 _ **If regular sessions are not scheduled, meet me in a month's time (or earlier if preferred) for a diagnosis.**_

"I'll diagnose him, see how he likes it." Harry muttered.

"You weren't listening, were you?" Remus asked. Harry turned to find three adults and a phoenix look at him.

"Sorry." He apologized, trying to look contrite. Dumbledore's eyes twinkled and Harry knew he'd failed at looking innocent.

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "Kid, I know you hate this, but we need to make some changes."

Harry closed his eyes to pace out his breathing. Then he nodded.

"We'll search for a new Occlumency teacher." Remus said.

That was good news. Harry looked up, eyes wide. "Really? You'd do that?"

"Yes! I told yo –" Sirius inhaled trying not to raise his voice. "We want you to get better. Snape is not helping so we'll find someone else."

Sirius was frustrated. He was unhappy because Harry hadn't told them just how pressured he'd been feeling. It was like he still didn't trust them. But wasn't that at all and Harry did feel remorseful about it. He'd be annoyed and worried if DJ had been hiding something from him.

"And, we'll set up weekly sessions with Mantis." Sirius said with a tone of finality.

That's the catch, Harry supposed. It couldn't all be good news.

"We've arranged with Dumbledore to get you out of the castle every Saturday under absolute legal terms of health. The session will be for an hour from ten to eleven. Then, we'll go visit Rachel and her parents and talk to them if you can meet with her once a week or at least talk with her."

Harry didn't move. Sirius and Remus were staring at him like he might explode. Dumbledore hummed low. Fawkes raised his wings and let out a trill, an accompaniment to the Headmaster's voice.

The music washed over everyone in the room. Harry's blood stopped roaring in his ears. His pulse slowed to a more normal pace. He leaned against the backrest of his chair and sighed. A wave of peace and silence followed and maintained a pleasant atmosphere for a while.

"Alright." Harry mumbled. They were manipulating him. But it didn't feel like too much exploitation, especially since he did, sort of, may be, want to talk to her. After the hospital visit which had confirmed her blood relation to him and DJ, she'd left and they hadn't exchanged a word. He knew that DJ had phoned her a couple of times but that was it.

"We'll spend a few hours there, may be have lunch if they invite us over. Then we'll go back to Sally's apartment where you can cook to your heart's content."

Harry made a face. Dumbledore on the other hand nodded, quite enthusiastic. "No better therapy than food. And music."

Sirius nodded. "I'm positive, Harry. You liked making all those dishes over the summer. You can do something special just for yourself. It can be a dead body soup or a biscuits."

"You can play the guitar too. And the flying. One hour, your feet are not to touch the ground, you hear me?"

Harry bit the inside of his cheek. He couldn't help it. There was a smile threatening to burst out on his face.

* * *

Harry reached the Great Hall at half past eight. Many students turned to gawk at him. Whispers rose over the din of plates and Harry made his way to the Ravenclaw table. Luna, who usually sat alone, was now accompanied by Colin, DJ and Ginny, all of whom looked up at Harry's presence.

"Morning." Harry said, trying to make an attempt to be civil. DJ and Colin looked surprised.

"Morning." Luna said, with no qualms. She set her spoon down on her saucer and made to shift but Harry waved her away. "I'm not here to join you. Just to say… you can give me the letter before the weekend. I'll see him on Saturday."

She grinned at him, complete joy on her face. She truly did love making friends. "Thank you, Harry! I'll give it on Friday!"

Ginny was looking at him, suspicious of something. Harry looked back at her, as steadily as he could. The shape of her eyes was different than he'd originally thought. Had he never really looked at her before? Her eyes had been too strong to focus on anything else, other than may be the freckles, the arched eyebrows, the curved lips even when she wasn't smiling –

"Friday!" Harry said loudly, tearing his gaze away from her. He nodded shortly and turned to leave. He had planned to sit with Hermione and Ron at the Gryffindor table, but suddenly, didn't feel up to it.

"Hey! Harry, wait up!" DJ called. Harry didn't look back. His shoulders were stiff, palms clenched tight to his sides. He left the hall and tried to take a corner but DJ had caught up with him.

"Did…" he panted. "Did they leave yet? Remus and –"

"Yeah." Harry said. "They couldn't stay. They'll come back on Saturday."

"Saturday? Why?"

Harry shuffled on his feet. He looked at the ground and then at the windows, not being subtle about it.

"What's wrong?" DJ asked, worried. His entire forehead developed wrinkles, enough to give him a headache if he kept it up for long.

"Nothing's wrong." Harry huffed. "It's just… you can't tell this to anyone. Not even your mates. I… I'm taking therapy."

Harry admitted it like it was a sin. DJ was watching him, stunned.

"That's… Harry! That's great!"

"Huh?"

"That's really… oh, Merlin, Harry, you have no idea how worried we all are!"

DJ looked very excited. It made him want t glare at the boy.

"What's so great about it? Now you'll think I need help!"

"You do need help. There's nothing wrong with that. I don't know why you always shirk it." DJ made Harry feel like a complete ponce. The matter-of-fact tone he'd said it in…

"You really think I need a shrink?" He demanded.

DJ rolled his eyes. "You don't have to say it like it's a bad thing. Come on, you had a panic attack. That's not good for anyone. You can't let it consume you. I mean, all the time we were in the safe house, you were sort of… tired."

Harry knew that DJ had replaced the word 'weak' with 'tired'. He just knew it. It didn't appeal to him in the least.

"There's nothing wrong with admitting you need help. It'll help make you better. You'll be able to heal. That's what I want. I know what you're thinking. That it's some weakness to admit all this, but believe me. There's nothing wrong with getting therapy."

DJ said it so easily. "You don't understand." Harry said. His voice was flat.

"What?"

"You don't understand, DJ. You don't understand what it's like to talk about it. It's like all that work you've done just breaks and you're left with no cover. I can't tell that to someone who's not been through it. DJ, I was _scared_."

Harry would never say that to anyone else. The cost of admitting that bit of truth was heavy. He felt the weight of it on his chest, but, after a second of silence, it dissipated.

DJ's eyes were round. They were large and blue. Not like Dumbledore's which was what most people thought.

"I was scared." Harry said it again, letting the word leave him open and bleeding. "I couldn't do anything to get away. I thought I was going to die."

He was whispering now. There was nobody in the corridor save for them, but the paranoia set in. What if someone had heard? What if people knew? What if – "

"Do you want a hug?" DJ asked, whispering as well.

The question hung in the air as Harry gaped at him. "Wh… what?"

"Um… hugs are nice. And all. I mean, I don't want you to be scared. But it's not your fault."

It's not your fault.

The world spun. Harry just stared at his cousin like he was speaking an alien language. It wasn't your fault.

Not my fault, Harry mouthed the words.

 _It wasn't my fault. I was in Diagon Alley, minding my own business. I was supposed to be safe. The Order was there, they were all there. Ajax tricked me, he took me to Rome, he hurt me, he scared me, it was his fault._

DJ raised his hands slightly. "Just in case."

Harry remembered all the times Percy had offered hugs and hadn't waited for Harry's refusal before embracing him. Harry hadn't liked the invasive touch. He only bore it because Percy never meant him any harm. He just hadn't liked such close personal contact.

DJ was giving him a choice. Just in case he needed it.

"Rain check?" Harry asked, still whispering.

He smiled. Harry relaxed a little. They were alright.

"Anytime, Harry. But remember, just in case." DJ looked a little relieved like whatever he'd seen in Harry had assured him. "So, what's the plan?"

Harry tilted his head, letting a smirk confuse him. "We're going to New York to see Rachel on Saturday."

DJ blinked. "Oh. I thought… we could do something a little more… permissible?"

"It's legal, DJ. My therapist suggested it, my headmaster allowed it and my godfather and uncle have agreed it."

"Ah."

* * *

It was nearly four in the morning. Percy had to keep up the mist to cover what he was doing, because, it was sooooo illegal.

He was carrying a cursed locket in his bag. Tom was locked in the box and Percy prayed that it could remain safe while he got it to the wizards.

He was also dragging the unconscious body of his step father.

Gabe's stench was overpowering. Being turned to stone had done nothing for it. His weight was comprised of pure fat and Percy had to hold him up by his armpits, walking backwards, letting the man's legs simply be pulled along for the ride.

Percy's bag weighed him down. It was like the locket was still trying to get out. On top of everything, he still had to concentrate on avoided as much crowds as possible. It wasn't like he could just drag him along the streets.

His back was aching. His breaths were laboured. Percy wheezed and had to set Gabe's upper body down on the pavement to catch a second wind. Percy pulled out his inhaler to shake it, looking around the place. He'd been able to get away from the museum and its camera, into a darkened alley way. It was too cold for such work and Percy's heart beat double time just for him to keep up his stamina. He was so tired.

He couldn't drag Gabe home. He couldn't take him anywhere. Gabe had seen Medusa's head. If he told anyone about it… well, they might not take him seriously, but they'd definitely call on Sally to say 'Look! We found your husband!' and then Gabe would be like, 'She killed me!'

Percy rested his forehead on the dirty brick wall of the building beside him. He closed his eyes having taken a hit from the inhaler, feeling the chemicals in his lung. What was he supposed to do? He couldn't leave him here. It was too dangerous. Gabe could ruin his life.

The alley was quiet. Gabe was completely out. No one knew they were here.

Percy shuddered. He couldn't… he… shouldn't think like that.

He turned back and crouched on the ground to clear his mind. He needed to think this through. When they reopened the museum, which was any day now, they'd notice that The Pokey Player was missing. They inform the cops. They'd call the collector who'd bought it. They'd go to the press. They'd call Sally, the maker of the statue.

If Gabe woke up, he'd go back to their old apartment and discover someone else living there. He'd ask around. He'd get drunk and make a hassle, get into a fight and get taken away by the cops. They'll ask him for identification which he wouldn't have. They'll check him in their systems and records. They'll find a missing person's case from years ago. They'll find the photographs a match. They'll call Sally, his wife.

If something… unfortunate… happened to him, he'd be taken to the hospital, he'd get some treatment, get reported to the police and they' find out who he was and call Sally, who'd reported him missing more than two years ago.

If Gabe was found, the exact time the statue went missing, the mortals would say it was a freaky coincidence. Sally would know.

So no matter what happened, she'd come to know. And if she knew, she may guess something was out of place and that it wasn't just a theft. She might tell Sirius and Remus. If the wizards get involved, Percy was done for.

Or may be not. No one would be able to tie Percy to the museum. Nobody knew he was there. Gabe had passed out the moment he'd been broken out of the concrete. He hadn't seen his step-son. Percy had used the mist as much as he could to shield everything that had happened.

He had to make sure that Gabe was found somewhere far away from the house. Percy stood up, wiping away the cold sweat on his forehead. His mom knew better. It didn't matter if he was found. She had the guts to divorce him now. Percy didn't need his 'protection'. The wizards will be confused. Everyone will be. None of Medusa's victims had come back to life.

Percy tired to think of any Greek myths that had statues come back to life. There had been something about people being turned to gold… Minos?... no, Midas. That's it. His touch turned people to gold. But once they came in contact with water, they turned back. May be they weren't dead when they were gold. May be it was like a coma, a deep, induced sleep. May be Medusa's victims could be turned back, no one had found a way yet.

Or may be Tom did. He'd picked out Gabe from Percy's memories. May be Tom didn't need any dead body. May be he needed Gabe because he knew that he wasn't really dead?

Percy left that thought. It didn't matter. Whatever he'd done was done. Percy had to leave Gabe somewhere far. That was the one of things of importance. The next was the locket.

Making up his mind, Percy bent down to pick up Gabe by his upper arms to drag him out of the alley, a semblance of a plan coming alive in his head.

He reached home by six. Nico was still asleep. Percy sighed silently and climbed in through the window as carefully as he could. Nico's senses were sharp. As long as Percy didn't approach too near him, it was fine.

He set both feet on the floor and lowered the pane, slow and steady. It creaked and Percy froze, head whipping about to stare at his cousin. Nico didn't move. His breaths were measured, no stutters.

Percy closed it with a click and winced again. Nico didn't wake. Percy exhaled again and tip toed to his bed. The locket had fallen silent. Percy thanked the gods for that and swung the bag under his bed, pushing it further in with his foot. Then he took of his jeans and pulled the covers over him, all with as minimal sounds.

He couldn't even pretend to sleep. It was half an hour later, when the alarm rang that Nico stirred. Percy didn't move, letting him turn over to hit the snooze on the little device. With his eyes shut, he tried to hear him, but Nico didn't leave the bed. In fact, it felt like Nico was staring at him. Percy tried to make it seem natural, but his heart was picking up its pace, waiting for the bomb to drop.

"I know you're awake." Nico mumbled. Percy tried not to flinch at that. Oh gods, oh no. No one could know –

"Percy?"

Percy held in a groan and opened his eyes. "Yeah."

Nico was lying on his said like Percy, staring at him. "So… when did you come back?"

"Just a while back."

"Uhuh." Nico said. They just kept watching each other. Did Nico know? Would he know? He should, shouldn't he? If Gabe came back from the dead, shouldn't Nico, the son of Hades, son of the lord of the dead, the ghost king, know?

So may be being turned into stone actually wasn't death?

"I sometimes walk around the streets at night." Nico said slowly.

Nico really had no idea…

"Why?"

He shrugged. "I just… can't sleep some nights. I miss Bi."

Percy prayed that none of his frustration showed. "She'll be at camp for a while. May be we can go over there on Friday, stay the weekend? Sounds nice?"

Nico smiled. "Yeah." Then he heaved a sigh, rubbing his eyes.

"I had a really weird dream."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. It feels like my dad's angry."

Percy froze in the action of getting out of bed. He tried to keep his cool though. "Huh. You can feel that? Or was it only a dream?"

Nico sat up on his bed. "Yeah, well, you're the one who said dreams aren't just dreams, Percy."

 _Harry tilted his head. There was an odd look in his eyes. His eyes, so very like his sister's, suddenly shone an ugly red. He smirked._

" _You of all people should know what nightmares really mean, Percy."_

Percy couldn't move. His heart raced and he remembered a dream of his own, from the summer. The day Harry had been released from St. Mungo's. Dream Harry's eyes had been an unholy red.

Just like Tom's. When the locket had been stuffed back into the box, Tom had given one last scream. His eyes had burned a vicious red that just wasn't right. It was toxic, the most tainted kind of magic that shone through his eyes that made Percy want to scream too.

"It was weird." Nico mumbled, yawning, not realizing that there was a crisis going in within Percy.

* * *

 _Wednesday, 19_ _th_ _Sept.  
Goode Middle School – 11:30 a.m._

Math was Nico's favourite by far. It was a different story to what Camp had warned him. He remembered Stanley from cabin six complaining how dyslexia got in the way of learning, how Annabeth seemed to make it really easy to read so much, even though she had it as bad as him. Nico, on the other hand, was not alone in studying it.

Denise was the best. She understood the concepts and had read all the chapters beforehand. She wasn't obnoxious about it. She always helped the others when they were stuck.

Gil was always making the silliest errors. His scores were perfect except for his weakness which was scratching a long list of rough calculations in such bad handwriting that he'd sometimes mistake his own numbers and replace them with others.

Ashley was the quietest in their little group. He could do the long division and even read the log tables easily. He'd get every step right and even mark the final answer in a box. He just thought it was boring and hated being called to the board to solve the problems in front of the class.

They were all pretty good at it. Denise's enthusiasm was what got Nico past his dyslexia to really focus on the numbers till they stopped moving. When he'd practiced with Sally, she had encouraged him to write in Ancient Greek as well. Nico always solved most of the problems with pencils on the side in Ancient Greek before converting everything to English.

It was a double math hour at the moment, their favourite class. They were being introduced to Trigonometry which made many students groan. Denise sat up straight while Ash joined the other in booing. Nico and Gil grinned at each other.

Their teacher was a short, and lanky man with hair so dark it was practically blue. Nico found himself staring at his perfect locks every so often that he couldn't focus on what Mr. Dhruv was saying.

"I've set up the projector to show you the graphs. Now, that's enough with the groaning. If we can get through this with no interruptions, I'll let you go before the bell goes."

Suddenly, the whole class held their breath, sitting up at attention. He laughed and Nico stared at him, wide eyed. It was the kind of open, carefree laugh that Percy always gave when he was truly happy. Mr. Dhruv was really excited to be teaching them.

The resolution was slightly grainy, but Nico found himself paying complete attention to the slides and what their teacher said for each of them. The room was dark with all the curtains pulled so he couldn't take notes, but it didn't matter. He could always remember what Mr. Dhruv said.

After a while, Nico found himself listening to his voice instead of the actual words. It was measured and strong. Like if they were in a hall with thousands of people, he'd still be able to talk to them with no problems of being spoken over. It was soothing and also exhilarating. Nico thought he could listen to the man talk forever.

The slideshow was over and Nico couldn't recall for the life of him what had been the exact premise of it. After two weeks of struggling with numbers, Nico felt like the only reason for him to grasp the subject so easily was because of the teacher's explanation of everything they had to learn. Nico didn't even have to look at his book or the board.

"Internals will be around the corner. Now, I don't want to have to call your parents over something as silly as marks. Just understand the concepts and you'll be able to solve all the problems. Tomorrow, we'll begin with the graphs I showed you, so don't forget your pencils and rulers. I'll get the sheets. Casey Dune and Nico di Angelo, stay back a minute. Everyone else can leave."

The class erupted into a ruckus. Nico froze, wondering if he'd been caught not paying attention to the slides.

Denise shrugged at him as she packed her bag. Ashley clapped a hand on Nico's back. "What flowers would you like, buddy?"

"Shove off!" Nico exclaimed. Gil rolled his eyes.

"Relax, Nico. Mr. Dhruv never yells. We'll save you a spot at lunch."

"See you." Denise waved and they walked out. Casey Dune was an awkward mid-pubescent girl who shuffled on her gangly feet while everyone else left.

Mr. Dhruv closed his own bag and grinned at them. "It's okay, you've done nothing wrong. Nico, you look faint, are you okay?"

"Fine!" Nico squeaked.

"I won't be here for the tests, Mr. Dhruv." Casey muttered, looking at her feet.

"I know that, Casey. That's alright. We'll schedule that a week after you come back. I hope your grandfather feels better."

Casey nodded, determined not to look up.

"And Nico, your aunt submitted a letter to the principal about your performance. This is your first time in a school?"

"Can I leave?!" Casey blurted. He nodded and she rushed for the door like she was being chased.

Nico felt his knees go weak. He wasn't scared. He wasn't even being threatened. But the way Mr. Dhruv looked amused, the way he grinned at the door and them looked back at him.

Okay, so Nico might be a little gay.

"I'm dyslexic." Nico whispered. He was surprised it was even audible.

The teacher nodded. "She'd explained that. So far, you've been doing well. You're obviously practicing at home."

"I am!"

"Yes, and that's impressive Nico. I just wondered if you would need extra time for your assignments and tests. If that's the case I can reschedule you to take the tests with Casey."

Mr. Dhruv was also their homeroom teacher, responsible for the thirty seven brash kids of grade 5, section B.

"I think so… I mean, um, will you be there?"

"I'll invigilate for a few subjects, yes." He confirmed. "Don't worry, Nico. There are other students in need of extra time for various reasons. There's nothing to be ashamed of."

Nico nodded. His palms felt a little sweaty. The man smiled. "I'll let the administration know. You can go for lunch now."

"Thanks, Mr. Dhruv." Nico whispered. He picked up his bag and ran for the door.

His heart was thudding. Nico stood in the empty corridor. There was about twenty minutes left for the lunch bell. He walked towards the cafeteria when the shadows warned him.

Nico froze. The corridor grew colder, darker like the sun had gone behind the clouds. He stared at the window where the sunlight hadn't budged, but the entire hallway was filled with a dreadful kind of silence.

He turned around. A familiar face greeted him. Hades, Lord of the Dead, his father, stood in the middle of the corridor in a black suit, hair gelled back, eyes sharp. Nico had only seen him, conversed with him in dreams. He'd never met his father in person. It was more terrifying.

"Lord Hades." Nico said, bowing his head towards him.

"Nico." The god greeted him.

Nico tried to look a little more assertive but at the same time, show deference. It wasn't easy. Percy had an easier relationship with his father. All Poseidon expected was attention and a good honest conversation. Hades expected Nico to listen and to sometimes shut up.

"Is there something wrong?"

Mr. Dhruv hadn't emerged from the classroom yet. May be he had the feeling that he needed to stay in. Good. Nico couldn't think of what would happen if his homeroom teacher met his father.

"Yes."

The short answer filled him with dread.

"I want you to find a soul for me." Hades said. There was steel in his voice. He was more than angry, he was furious.

Nico raised his chin. He was a demigod with a quest now. "Which one?"

"Gabriel Ugliano. He escaped the lobby this morning. He's somewhere in New York City. I want him back by sunset."

Nico nodded. "Did Charon say –"

"You can speak to him. Don't waste time."

Hades disappeared in the shadows. The corridor was suddenly warm. Nico still felt cold.

A soul had escaped? What did that mean? Was it the same as King Minos? It couldn't be. Minos had been gathering strength for centuries to orchestrate his escape. And even then, the Titans had been the ones to set him free. The way Hades had said it, a soul from Charon's lobby. Most probably a mortal. How could a mortal escape? There was no way to just get out without help from outside.

It should be easy, though. He was the Ghost King, after all.

* * *

 **Story's getting interesting enough for ya? Stay tuned!**

 **Q: What had Hades promised Nico in exchange for Percy in the Last Olympian?**

 **Cabba.**


	16. Event Horizon

**My knowledge of NYC is scant and only from the net. Point out if anything needs to be corrected. This goes for the Spanish dialogues as well!**

 **Warning: Coarse language and gory violence. Mentions of sexual violence. One character death.**

 **Listening to – Nobody Can Save Me by Linkin Park**

* * *

 _Wednesday, 19_ _th_ _Sept  
Goode School Campus – 12:10 p.m._

Nico felt guilt gnaw on his consciousness as he headed for the school gates. He hadn't met up with any of his friends, hadn't told anyone that he would be bunking. But he couldn't waste any time. First thing's first, he needed to get to Charon's lob – .

"Hey, Nico!" Someone called. He turned around surprised to find Rachel running towards him. Her fingers had blue paint splattered all over them like she'd been in a hurry to leave the art room. She panted when she reached him, red curly tresses flying out of her bun. She wore a band t-shirt and blue jeans, nothing much out of the ordinary, but it reminded Nico of Bianca's wish to buy a band t-shirt, back when they lived in the Lotus Hotel and Casino.

"Rachel, sorry but I don't have time to stop."

"Oh god! What happened? Is Percy okay?" She asked, talking so fast her words seemed to run over each other. Nico could decipher them quickly.

"Percy…? I… no, I don't know about… wait, he isn't here?" Nico stood facing her fully. Why would she be asking him where Percy was? They shared classes!

"He didn't come today." She explained, eyebrows climbing high on her forehead. "And I didn't want to call him, in case it was too dangerous. Why are _you_ leaving?"

"That's different. It's got nothing to do with him –"

"But it's demigod stuff, right?"

Nico looked around, alarmed at her brazen words. She said it without caution, like Bianca.

"Rachel… just. Look, tell Ms. Jackson that I'll be late for dinner. I've got something to do."

"Like a quest? Is that where Percy is?"

"I don't know about that… Look, do you have Sally's number?"

Nico hung about to give her the Jacksons' landline and then had to leave. He couldn't stay any longer. Rachel had given him a look of worry and he tried to forget it. Percy hadn't been to school? But they'd left the house together. He'd had his bag and they walked to Goode at eight in the morning. The only odd thing was that Percy didn't take his skateboard. He'd claimed to have forgotten it when Nico pointed it out, but he also seemed distracted, even more so than usual.

Was it possible that Poseidon had dropped by and had given him a job to do? It couldn't be the same thing. What would Percy know about lost souls? May be it was about Grover? That made more sense.

Nico took off at a jog when he left the campus. He turned into a corner, quieter and more secluded. With the shadow of buildings on all three sides, Nico closed his eyes and let the darkness envelope him.

It was much harder to get into Charon's lobby. The place had protections that made it impossible for anyone to simply come and go. Nico and Bianca were the only demigods who could get into the lobby without taking a designated path to the underworld. And even Bianca couldn't shadow travel. She needed Nico or Mrs. O'Leary to get in.

It was even more difficult to get out. The only exit from the dead waiting area was the door which took souls into the Underworld. And Charon was the only being who could ferry souls.

Unless Hades allowed it, nobody could take charge in his realm.

The cold air stuck his face into odd shapes like he'd pressed the skin into his pillow. He thought the magic made body ache for a brief moment, but it passed. He was standing inside the lobby.

The place was large. It had a high vaulted ceiling which was different from the last time Nico had visited, though that had been in his dreams. The walls were a cold steel colour which matched the paint on the pillars and the dead potted plants beside every pillar. There was an aura of staleness that had permeated the room successfully. Nico tried not to cringe.

The souls of the dead were chained to the walls, which left the black leather sofas empty. It came as a surprise to him. Every spirit had a shackle on their arms. They stood beside their portions of the wall, grumbling in dismay. There had to be hundreds of people. Nico gritted his teeth and made his way to a desk in front of the room. It had a metal plaque on it that read **Charon, Daimon**.

There was no one behind the desk. Nico looked around, wishing it wouldn't talk so long. He reached up for the little bell on the table and rung it once.

The doors that lead into the underworld burst open and a man, the seeming epitome of tall, dark and handsome stormed in. He was cursing in Ancient Greek. The cusses counteracted with his beautiful face and Nico sighed. Sometimes, it seemed like every immortal was just too good looking.

"Oh." Charon said in a monotone. He stared down at Nico. "Son of my lord. How may I be of service to you, Nico di Angelo?"

He bowed, a gesture so grand it seemed fake. Nico thought that he was mocking him.

"I want to know everything about Gabriel Ugliano." Nico said, hoping his voice didn't falter. The dull ambience of the room was getting to him.

Whatever faux expression was on his face, vanished. Charon looked at him with cold eyes. He bristled and stood up straight. "An abomination! A mere mortal escaped! I'll never get that bonus now!"

"Sorry." Nico said automatically. He leaned in and lowered his voice. "If you can help me quickly, I can find him that much faster. My father will be lenient if I bring him back before sunset."

Charon grunted. "Oh, I'll tell you what happened. Someone broke him out."

"Who?"

"A mortal! A cursed, tainted morsel of a mortal!" He yelled. The souls cried in fear and cowered. Nico held back glare.

"What is so important about Ugliano?"

"That's just it. Nothing! He was a terrible soul. No drachmas, no respect. That awful stench of his like he died falling in a vat of toxic chemical dump. I banished him to the third corner. None of the other souls interacted with him. He's been here for two years and never has he shown any inclination of knowledge of our world. He knows nothing. He's useless."

"And yet, someone broke him out. What can you tell me about that?"

Charon looked insulted with Nico's questions. The demigod didn't budge. It must be nearly one. He set himself a deadline of six in the evening, glad for long summer days.

"A mortal with magic." Charon sneered. "Magic very much like that wizard friend of the sea god's spawn."

Nico stared. "A wizard?"

He scoffed. "Oh, I wouldn't say that. Too bad I wasn't in the room. I was half way across the Styx when it happened. All I sensed was the terrible, terrible reach of power. Infected and abnormal. Nothing like an immortal, nothing like a mortal."

Charon yanked open a drawer behind the desk and pulled out a black tablet. He opened it and made a few motions before showing Nico the screen. It was a webpage from the Awaiting Judgement Registry.

 **Gabriel Ugliano**

 **Affiliation – None**  
 **Category – Mortal**  
 **Died – June 22, 2010**  
 **Time of Death – 16:43:52 p.m.**  
 **Aged – 36 years, 7 months, 20 days, 3 hours, 17 minutes, 22 seconds**  
 **Cause of Death – Exposure to the head of Medusa (Premeditated)**  
 **Character – Negative – Excessive drinker, Immoral, Materialistic, Non-believer, Smoker, Stinks +**  
 **Crimes – Accessory to murder, Demonstrator of physical violence, Domestic abuser, thief +**  
 **Good Deeds – Lent 20, 567 pounds to Stephan Colt**  
 **Initial Judgement – Fields of Punishment.**

 _ **Status – Missing from Underworld Antechamber**_

Nico stared at the photograph of the man. It was an unflattering picture of Ugliano mid-yelling, eyes narrowed in anger. There was no sympathy for him. Nico read the record that was displayed out to him, lips turning down at the soul's character and crimes' list.

But one thing stuck out to him like a beacon. _Cause of Death – Exposure to the head of Medusa (Premeditated)_

The head of Medusa? As in the mythical monster woman with snakes for hair who turned people into stone?!

"It's given that he has no affiliation to anyone from our world." Nico said annoyed. "How was he killed by a monster?"

Charon raised an eyebrow at Nico's daring. "He might have run into Medusa."

He was smiling. He knew more than what the register held. Nico set the tablet on the desk and said, "What are you not telling me?"

"Oh a little bit of this, a little bit of that. Tell me, hero, do you really live with Percy Jackson?"

There was a sort of breathless silence that filled his ears. The souls seemed to have stopped talking to look at the confrontation. Charon's smile was severe.

"What does he have to do with Ugliano?"

"I'm not to tell. You can ask him, though."

Charon took the tab back and switched it off. "Someone suggested I remove certain details from the mortal's death. The proposition was very lucrative as you can see my new suit."

Charon gave a flourish to indicate his obviously expensive three piece, red bronze to compliment his chocolate skin and gold hair. There was a bunch of strange lavender coloured flowers in his front pocket. There were small and stuck out in an odd way.

"Purple coral. Not that easy to acquire down here, but in the ocean…"

He chuckled. "Your objective is to find the soul. It's returned to the body. His status will be updated to _alive_ if you don't return him today. And with everything going on now, no one wants that."

Nico swallowed. "How far have you tracked him?"

"He hasn't left Manhattan. City boundaries are large. You can summon the stray skeletons in the upper surface to help with the search. Nothing else."

"You mean, I can't include anyone?"

"The lesser people know, the lesser chance for the king to find out. Hades will demote me if his little brother starts a thunder tantrum over this."

Charon clicked his tongue. The lights seemed to dim with the sound and the souls cowered. "Start with Medusa. She was killed just a few weeks before Ugliano died."

"Where was she last seen?"

For a moment, he feared that Charon would blow him off like he was liable to, but something changed in his expression. He raised an eyebrow as though he were seriously contemplating on assisting him. "She used to run this cheerful little place called Aunty Em's Emporium. Now for the life of me I can't seem to recall where that was…"

Nico backed away from Charon's wicked grin. He didn't show any change in emotion as he walked behind the closest pillar, using its shadow to disappear.

He reached the surface, back in the deserted corner of the utility building closest to Goode. Nico leaned against the wall, shaking his head from the lazy effect from the travelling. He needed to focus.

The record had said that he was killed by exposure to Medusa's head. Someone had killed her before he died, by most probably slicing her head off. A demigod action if he ever knew one. He could go to camp and ask who'd been on a quest in 2010 and had fought Medusa. They'd have some knowledge of where the head ended up.

Although, if they had killed her, wouldn't they have the head? It would be a spoil of war. Nico felt disgusted by his train of thoughts but he couldn't be distracted by that. Demigods were supposed to be desensitized to blood, ichor and gore. Violence was commonplace in life, especially for a child of Hades.

Nico hated it.

He took out his phone, knowing he had no way of making a rainbow at the moment.

He remembered the surprise he'd gotten when Sally had given him a cell of his own. A few days into school and she'd bought him one. She helped him navigate through it store a few contacts and take a few photos. It was for emergencies only and Nico was sure this classified as one.

He wanted to call Percy. But Charon's words had made him hesitate. Instead, he chose Annabeth's number and pressed call.

It rang four times before she picked it. " _Hello?"_

"Annabeth, it's me, Nico." He said, pulling at the shadows to cover him partially. If there was any monster lurking about, he needed to escape quickly.

" _Nico! Is there something wrong? What number is this?"_

"It's mine! Ms. Jackson bought me a phone for emergencies."

" _Okay bu_ –"

"I'll make it quick, please!" Nico pleaded. "You've been at camp longest, I wanted to ask if you knew anyone who'd gone on a quest or something in 2010 and killed Medusa."

There was a two second silence which was enough to make Nico ansty. "Ann –"

" _Nico, where is Percy?"_

"I dunn–"

" _What d'you mean you don't know_?" She sounded supremely mad and concerned.

"Rachel said he wasn't there in school all day, may be he's off on a lead about Grover. But this has nothing to do with him."

" _It has everything to do with him_." She said. " _Percy, Grover and I went on a quest in 2010, just before the summer solstice. Percy killed Medusa. He took her head off. Nico, what's going on?_ "

* * *

 _Wednesday, 19_ _th_ _Sept  
East 104_ _th_ _St. and First Ave. – 2:20 p.m._

" _¡Hace tiempo que no te veo!"_ The old man greeted him.

Percy gave him an uncomfortable grin, _"_ _¿Cómo está, S_ eñor _Thiago?"_

 _S_ eñorThiago was a graying man in his seventies who was one of the only people in their old apartment who used to greet Percy and his mother cheerfully, even if he didn't remember their names. He still recognized Percy which was a huge deal.

The three storey building had been vacated months ago. Mrs. Dusword, the landlady of the building had sold it to some contractor. From all the white tape around the doors and windows, Percy was sure that the place was set for demolition. There was no love lost there, but the vital fact was that the place was empty and it had a basement where the washing machines had once been stored. It was abandoned now, and the entire area was dangerous enough for people to steer clear of strange sites. East Harlem was funny like that.

Except, _S_ eñorThiago, who seemed to have embrace senility and was now wandering around the empty building as though he were sightseeing. Percy had dragged Gabe into the basement in the early hours of the day, leaving a bunch of fruits he'd been able to snatch from the markets which opened at four.

Gabe was mostly tied up. The walls were made of cinder blocks and the room was underground. Luckily, it seem like no one, not even _S_ eñorThiago, had heard the screams.

Percy cringed. He shouldn't think like that. It wasn't like he was kidnapping Gabe… except it was.

He had skipped school to check in on him. Gabe had been asleep, so Percy had gone out to get more food when he met a lovely three headed snake that tried to eat him. He had just reached back.

Percy was able to sneak into the building through a broken window in the back. That was when the old man hobbled into sight, leaning heavily on his wooden cane. His brown skin was worn and wrinkled so much that it seemed to sag in places. His clothes were shapeless and hung about him in such a sad style that Percy felt a prickle of sympathy, wondering if anyone cared for the old man.

"Muy bien." The man waved his cane, looking around the decrepit floor with a smile. Percy leaned to the side, standing in front of the door leading to the basement. He had a cover full of food for Gabe. His bag, slung over his shoulder, still held the locket in its box. Once he'd dealt with Gabe, he'd surrender the locket to Sirius. Percy had to keep repeating to himself that he'd turn it in. The longer he waited, the harder it was to not just get rid of it.

Suddenly, there was a sharp yell from the floor beneath them. Percy nearly jumped, looking at the door behind him in horror. He turned to face _S_ eñor Thiago in worry, but the man simply started to mutter to himself. He looked around in a dull interest as though there might be a bee about him. Percy started to sweat. He couldn't waste another second. He needed to get him out of the building.

Percy marched up to _S_ eñor Thiago, cursing himself for what he was about to do. The frail old man looked even weaker up close. Percy was taller than him. He raised his arm and very carefully, concentrating with all his might, Percy snapped his fingers.

It wasn't as strong as what he'd done outside the gallery. _S_ eñor Thiago stopped moving and turned to Percy in confusion.

"You did not see me here." Percy said, speaking clearly in English. "Walk out of this building and go back to your house. I will not remember coming here."

There was a glazed look in _S_ eñor Thiago's already dull eyes. It cleared and the man looked at him, even more confused. "¿Cómo?"

He should have said it in Spanish. Percy groaned and then asked in desperation, " _S_ eñor Thiago, sabes mi nombre?"

The man looked at him helplessly. "¿Cómo?"

After a moment's contemplation, Percy took a hold of his elbow and guided him gently, but forcefully, out of the building, through the back door.

Nobody was in vicinity. Hopefully, nobody had spotted them from any of the buildings. There really wasn't much to worry about since the closest structure was a large warehouse of sorts that was used only during the late winter months for storage by some shipping company.

Percy let go of him and said carefully, enunciating every word. " _S_ eñor pleas, vuelva a casa."

"¿Ya es medianoche?"

"Si, _S_ eñor Thiago. Hora de dormir."

The man leaned back, tilting his head up to look at the sky. Then he nodded, unaware of the bright sun shining down on them. He turned away and started to hobble slowly away from the building.

Percy exhaled in relief and ran back into the building. He opened the basement door and heard Gabe swearing wild and unrestrained. He was struggling from the old ropes that Percy had found. The moment he had descended the steps, his step father caught the sight of him, eyes bulging.

There was no part of Gabe that Percy had missed. He recalled in vivid clarity, the utter misery his mother and he had truly faced living with him.

The smell was still present. The stale liquor mixed with suffocating tobacco barely part of the real gross body odour he emitted. Percy felt graceless as he tried to walk towards him. Gabe was dumbstruck like he couldn't believe that it really was Percy who was walking up to him.

"You… you little… what … why are you … like that?!" He spluttered.

 _It's been two years, Gabe. You'd been turned into stone. You were put up as an exhibition piece and then sold. Now you're back to human and everyone have moved on._

"What do you last remember?" Percy asked, hoping his voice was steady.

"You…" Gabe's voice was shaking. He was sitting under the small vent, ropes winding across his hands and body to the bars. The fibres were frayed. If Gabe kept rubbing and pulling on them, they could break.

Percy tossed the cloth bag of perishables onto the floor beside Gabe's feet. He had to sound as intimidating as possible. He would definitely be using the mist to befuddle his memories. He couldn't risk the truth getting out.

Percy knelt on the dirty floor, put down his bag which still had the locket, and took out Riptide. He held the pen in his right palm, thumb twitching to click it. He waited. Gabe's face had turned red. He was obviously feeling humiliated.

"I'm not playing around, Gabe. What is the last thing you remember?"

Gabe spat at Percy's face.

It wasn't like it was a shock, but the action still made Percy's heart thud in dread and anger. Gabe's eyes were red rimmed and his black irises bore into Percy. It was obvious that there would be no cooperation.

Percy rubbed his face with the sleeve of his t-shirt. The intense desire to wash his face erupted but he clamped it down by glaring at him in a way he never had. It took Gabe off guard and he stared in silence.

"We're doing this on my terms." Percy whispered, not breaking eye contact. "If you don't want to talk, I could just leave you here. It'll be very easy to forget about you, Gabe."

"Fucker grew up." Gabe muttered. Percy's nostrils flared.

"What's the last thing you remember?!"

"You coming home! I knew there and then I should have kicked you out!"

"Is that it? Nothing else?"

"I'm going to wring your little neck, bastard."

Percy slammed his left hand, on the wall next to Gabe's head. It made the dust fall from the peeling paint and startled Gabe. He raised Riptide in front of his eyes.

"Do you know what's in my hand?" He asked. His voice was soft and there were beads of sweat on Gabe's bald head.

He made the deliberate motion of moving his thumb down to press the pen and turn it into the sword. The sound was lethal and made a whistling noise as the blade drew itself up, three feet till the tip hovered at the man's throat.

Gabe made an aborted move and screamed.

Percy didn't budge, still watching him as cold as he could. The sword would never be able to hurt him. But since Percy had made him focus on the transformation of Riptide, Gabe could see the gleaming bronze sword that looked as dangerous as the wielder.

"You… you… what…" Gabe's words started to make no sense in his shock. Percy moved Riptide's tip away from him to let his breathe easier.

"Do you remember now?"

Gabe's entire body was shaking with shallow breaths. He kept looking from him to the sword. "That thing in the fridge. It had snakes on it and … and burning eyes. I don't know! I don't… I won't tell anyone!"

Apparently, Gabe worked best with threats. Percy had seen this more than once. At times when strange people barged through the door to threaten Gabe to give back their money that he'd borrowed or stolen or whatever. Percy had always listened because the gravity of the threats would determine Gabe's consequent behaviour and whether Sally and Percy had to get out of the house till he calmed down enough.

Percy felt sick. He'd never done anything like this before. He could feel the locket beating in the box. Like his own heart, the sound was swift and heavy.

"That's all I wanted to know." Percy said, pressing his thumb on the base of Riptide's handle. It shrunk back into a slim pen. Gabe looked like his wanted to throw up. Percy moved away to the side in case there was a projectile of sick.

"I want you to listen to me very carefully." Percy prayed this work. He lifted his hand and snapped his fingers, focusing on the mist, on his vital need to _do_ this.

The sound was strong this time. Gabe's shaking reduced and Percy could tell that he was paying attention.

"You will forget this. When you wake up, you'll remember stumbling your way to your apartment, thinking about how drunk you are and that you need more. You won't remember anything about how you went missing. Now go to sleep."

Gabe seemed to have been listening. The moment Percy said 'sleep', his eyes shut and his head lolled from one side to the other. He was fighting it. Gabe gave a groan and squeezed his eyes. Percy waited, feeling antsy all over again.

There was a sound from upstairs.

Percy's head snapped up. It sounded like someone was trying to sneak into the building. Gabe was muttering to himself. Percy stood up looking at the ceiling like he could see through it. He held his breathe and closed his eyes. He heard Gabe's hoarse breaths, his nonsense whispers and the light and slow footsteps of whoever it was on the ground floor.

It was too light for it to be an adult's. The paint on the ceiling quivered showing how weak the structure really was. Making a swift decision, Percy went to one side of the basement and used Riptide to push the small window that was built right at the top, open. Then he rushed to the stairs, squeezing behind the steps into the suffocating space that would hide him from sight.

He didn't have to wait long. Gabe was still half way to losing consciousness when the door at the top of the stairs opened and the newcomer descended the staircase.

Percy first saw the shoes. It was too small for an adult or even a teenager. Percy did a double take when he realized that it was Nico.

Oh gods, what was Nico doing here? Did he follow him? He couldn't have, he should be in school right now!

Nico had his sword out. The Stygian iron seemed to burn the air and Percy held his hand over his mouth, fearing that Nico could find him. He couldn't let that happen.

The boy was at alert. He saw Gabe tied up under the vent with its rusty bars. Nico's shoulders were tense and he moved with a leonine grace that only a trained demigod could achieve. He hadn't spent many weeks at camp but had been able to pick up strategies and survival skills very easily. Right now, Percy had to think of a way to get out of the building without Nico finding out. It was starting to look impossible.

Thankfully, Nico saw the open window. It was barely enough for Percy to squeeze through it but the sight of it made the son of Hades relax a little. Obviously, he thought who ever had brought Gabe into the building had left when they'd heard Nico.

Percy was sure that his mist manipulation had worked well enough on Gabe. He just hadn't fallen asleep, probably still in shock from seeing the sword. As of now, the best case scenario was that Nico would get Gabe out and Percy could later leave undetected and then both of them could meet up at the end of school, pretending like nothing had ever happened.

Except, how did Nico find him? Was he searching for Percy? Or Gabe?

There was a trickle of terror in his chest. The only way Nico would know about Gabe was if Tom had really bought Gabe back from the dead.

Nico headed for Gabe and checked his pulse. He murmured something and pulled out a cellphone from his pocket. Percy stared. From where did Nico get a phone? It looked quite new too. Did he steal it?

Nico pressed a few buttons and waited.

Suddenly, Percy felt a buzzing in his pocket. He froze when music blared from his cell. Nico had been calling him.

Nico spun around, nearly dropping the phone in shock. Percy pressed himself against the wall as he struggled to take out his phone, but the damage was done.

"Percy?" Nico whispered.

The locket was beating at speeds of a Maserati, it seemed. Percy slid out from his hiding spot, feeling distraught at the look on Nico's face. There was a look of betrayal and it was aimed at him.

"I… I – I can explain –"

"You brought him back." Nico's voice was so quiet he almost couldn't hear him.

"No!" Percy shook his head frantically. "I didn't! I –"

"You killed him and then brought him back? What, why…?"

Nico thought Percy had killed Gabe two years ago? That was better than him finding out that Sally had done it. Nico would never trust her if he knew, and that would break her heart.

"I didn't bring him back."

So, Gabe had been dead. Medusa's petrification was nothing like Midas' gold touch. This meant that Tom really had used a terrible kind of magic. If wizards could bring people back from the dead, Harry and DJ would both have their parents; the wizarding population would be booming and not be encased in a small community.

Percy raised both hands. "Nico, just listen. I found him –"

"What is he to you?" Nico interrupted him. His eyes had gone bitter. Percy swallowed when he saw that Nico didn't trust him.

"He's my step dad. He was missing for two years. I found him just outside Goode. I have no idea how or why…" The lie fell easily. It arranged itself in his head and spilled for the boy's ears to be placated, for Nico to trust Percy again.

"Did you know that my dad came to my school and ordered me to find him? Someone got him out of Charon's lobby. He was furious, Percy. If he finds out –"

The ropes broke. Gabe hadn't fallen sleep; he'd just remained as still as possible to throw their guards off of him. Gabe yanked at the loose rope and the bars from the vent fell on the ground. Nico turned around, raising his sword, but Gabe had grabbed one of the bars, it was as long as a wand, and swung it first.

The torn metal edge hit Nico's face, splitting the skin from his right ear to his mouth.

Nico screamed. He dropped his sword and clutched his face. Blood spurted onto the floor and Percy yelled, reaching for Riptide but froze when Gabe grabbed Nico's upper arm and pressed the bloody bar at his throat.

No no no no. It wasn't supposed to be like this. He should have fallen asleep. Why wasn't the mist working? It had worked last night with Tom –

Tom…

The locket was still beating. Tom had done this. He'd used up so much power to bring Gabe back, but whose power really?

Nico's eyes were closed in pain. His fingers were covering the wound. It had to be deep, there was so much blood on his face, his hands, the floor.

Percy was breathing hard. He wanted to scream and punch Gabe into bloody pulp. He wanted to swipe the bar into Gabe's face and tear it open. He wanted to get Nico home, and tuck him in, safe and unhurt.

"You…" Gabe's voice was so coarse and so familiar that Percy was nauseated.

"He… doesn't… know you. Don't hurt him, please. Gabe!"

"You brought me here. You and that bitch did something to me. What did you?!"

Gabe wasn't messing around. The bar dug into Nico's throat. He let out a whimper as a fresh trail of red dripped from the point.

Suddenly, the locket let out a deep sound wave, like the box it was locked in was a bass. The air seemed to vibrate. It was the metal heart that wasn't real, that was Tom trying to get out from the box in Percy's bag that was behind Gabe.

Nico cried and Gabe dropped him and clapped his hands over his ears. The noise went right through Percy's eardrums but instead of cowering, he lunged at Gabe, kicked the bar from his hand and swung his fist into the man's mouth.

He grabbed his head and slammed it towards the wall. The bang of it made his arms shake. The wall didn't crack but Gabe's eyes rolled back in his head and Percy let go for him to fall on the floor.

The sound was gone. Percy ran to Nico who was lying on the ground, eyes screwed up, radiating pain. Percy stopped in horror.

Gabe had dragged the iron bar around Nico's neck, deep and jagged, and the wound was now bleeding freely. It must have happened when the sound wave had startled Gabe.

"Nico! Oh gods, no, this can't be happening!"

Nico was still conscious, but barely. He was breathing in heavy gasps. Percy had never seen so much blood in his life. He took off his shirt, bundled it up and pressed it against the gash in Nico's neck to stem the flow as much as possible.

He needed ambrosia. Percy had finished his portion of ambrosia squares after the burn and cuts from the previous night. He reached for Nico's bag, opening the zip of the side pockets. They were empty.

Percy couldn't believe this was happening. He had to get Nico help. There were no hospitals close enough and by the time he could get to the main street and flagged down a cab, it could be too late. The wound was too deep to wait for more than may be five minutes.

The locket was beating. Percy could hear Tom even if he wasn't really there. He closed his eyes and pressed his forehead to Nico's cheek. His cousin's movements were slow. Nico's hands had fallen to the floor and his pulse was so fast from the adrenaline, it just made the wounds to bleed even more heavy.

I'm doing this for you, Nico. I can't let you die. I won't let it.

Holding back a sob, Percy reached for his bag, behind Gabe unmoving form. He couldn't hesitate. Whatever helped had to be done fast. Percy opened his bag, pulled out the heavy black metal box and opened it.

The locket was practically glowing from the heat. Tom was angry and smug. He knew what was happening.

Nico's eyes closed as he slipped into unconsciousness. Not wanting to lose another second, Percy grabbed the chain. It burned his fingers. He slipped it around his head, nonetheless, hissing at the heat.

The locket cooled almost immediately and Percy looked up to find Tom standing over him. His shadow fell over the demigods as it never have before.

"You beckoned?" Tom asked, tilting his head ever so slight. There was a smile on his face, but his eyes were red. They blazed with a fury that Percy had seen in few mortals.

"You can save him… please, Tom –"

"I could… for a price."

Tom knelt in front of him, in his pristine black uniform. Percy was holding onto Nico. His fingers were pressed against the unharmed side of his neck. His pulse was slowing down.

The world seemed to stop for Percy. Tom hadn't shifted his gaze from Percy's eyes. His pitch black hair fell over his eyes due to its messiness. He moved it out of the way and said, "His father sent him here. So they know that Gabe's alive. If I heal Nico, he'll tell the lord of the dead what happened. That will be the end of the both of us."

Percy looked down at Nico. He was still breathing harshly. But his heart –

"You can make him forget." Percy blurted. "He won't remember, he'll –"

"Others will ask about Gabe." Tom said, still unmoved by the situation.

Percy couldn't afford to bargain. Nico didn't have the time. His eyes burned with tears that were leaking out.

"Tom, please! Just… look, heal him and change his memories, you can do that!"

"I can." Tom nodded. "And if I do that, you will promise me that you'll never try to get rid of me, do you understand?"

Percy swallowed and closed his eyes in panic. Oh gods. What would it mean for the future? Tom could do anything and Percy wouldn't be able to stop him?

He couldn't let Nico die.

"Alright." Percy whispered, crying silently.

"And you'll have to get rid of him." Tom said, jerking his head at Gabe.

Percy looked up, confused. "What?"

"Kill him."

There was a beat of tense silence. "Kill… what, I can't do that."

"Why not? He died once, he can do it again. This one's father wants him back in the Underworld, you'll be doing just that."

Percy was shaking his head. No, he couldn't… he… couldn't just kill him… no matter how vile he was… is…

"He could have killed Nico." Tom said. He frowned at Percy. "If Nico dies, a certain god will know about it and will appear here, I have no doubt, to blast the both of us along with Gabe. That's a worst case scenario, now."

"I can't kill –"

"Why, because he's a mortal?" Tom scoffed at him. His red eyes were starting to suit him. Percy couldn't see him as anything other than a non-human.

"You've killed monsters before."

"They were monsters!"

"So you're telling me that it's easier to kill someone like Tyson than someone like Gabe?"

Percy stared. How did Tom know about Tyson?

"Or maybe just slash your pet hell-hound's throat? No one will mind, that's a real monster, not this one who used to beat you and your mother. And what do you think he did to her when you weren't around?"

Percy couldn't breathe. He just stared, a cold feeling gripping him. The locket was snug against his chest as though it was a part of him.

Tom raised an eyebrow. "They were married, Percy. You can't tell me that it didn't happen. The question is _how many times_ did it happen seeing as how you weren't there for those years at boarding school and all the other nights he was drunk and as good as dead?"

Percy dropped his eyes to the floor. Tom was saying all the things that he'd never let himself think about. He couldn't picture it. His mom was so happy now. She had a good job, she was studying now, she had a boyfriend, a good trustworthy man. Percy couldn't see her crying and in pain and –

"You're supposed to be a hero, Percy. Where were you when she needed that?"

His words made a twisted sort of sense. Percy clutched Nico's head, chocking on his sobs. He'd never done anything more than glare and mouth off to Gabe, mostly because his mom told him not to, because if Gabe got angry, he'd take it out on her. They were married for more than ten years. And her son didn't catch onto the abuse until the last day.

"Percy, I'm sorry." He looked up at Tom whose eyes had dimmed and their natural colour could be seen now. He looked more human. "I shouldn't have brought him back. All I wanted was his corpse. But when the concrete broke, I felt this amazing renewal of energy, I couldn't help it. He should have stayed dead. And you have to do it right now, before it's too late."

Percy gritted his teeth. His tears had slid down his face and reached his lips so he could taste the salt. "I… you'll save Nico?"

"Yes, of course." He widened his eyes to look a little hurt that Percy would doubt him.

There was nothing else for it. Percy lowered Nico's head to the floor, placing him on his shirt and carefully as possible. The cloth was stained a gross red and Percy could even smell the blood. The anger helped. It helped Percy stand and pick up the black blade. The stygian iron sword was light in his grip. It sang in his hands, sending a tremor up his arms.

He felt the rage when he thought of Gabe and his mom, of what he did to her for so many years, that killing him was the only way to escape, to be free. Percy remembered all the times Gabe had given him money to get beer from a shop in the deeper corners of their street where the owner didn't care that a nine year old boy was buying alcohol. He thought of when he'd been made to drink from the cans till Gabe laughed, the revolting smell that filled the room along with the cigarette smoke and all those packs of…

He thought of Gabe's unhesitating moment of slashing Nico's face and then his neck. Nico was bleeding out right now, close to death.

The sword was so light to lift. It was too easy.

* * *

 **Translations -**

 ** _¡Hace tiempo que no te veo! –_ It's been a while since I've seen you!  
 _¿Cómo está, S_** _ **eñor**_ ** _Thiago?_ – How are you, Mr. Thiago? _  
_** ** _Muy bien_ – Very good.  
** ** _¿Cómo?_ – Pardon?  
** _ **sabes mi nombre**_ **? – Do you know my name?  
** **p** **leas,** _ **vuelva**_ **a** _ **casa**_ **– Please, go on home.  
** _ **¿Ya es medianoche**_ **? – Is it midnight?  
 _Si,_** _ **S** **eñor** **Thiago.** **Hora de dormir**_ **. – Yes, Mr. Thiago. It's time to sleep.**

 **That was exhausting. It was dangerous waters to wade into and I hope it made sense to you. Stay tuned, everyone.  
Yes, Gabe was fast enough to hit Nico.**

 **Q: Who knocked out Percy when he was possessed in the Mark of Athena?**

 **Cabba.**


	17. I don't know what to title this

**A: Blackjack knocked Percy out on Piper's words. Sherlock Harry Winchester and Catie Cat's got it!**

 **ShadeofDeath746: Percy picked up Nico's sword.**

 **Warning: Mild swearing (with everything going on, it should be a given).**

 **Listening to – Silhoutte by Active Child ft. Ellie Goulding**

* * *

 _Wednesday 19_ _th_ _Sept.  
Frost, Gretna Green – 8:30 p.m._

Sirius cleared his throat. Tonks jumped from her spot on the couch while Remus's jaw dropped. The pair had been sitting very close to each other, whispering secrets and looking quite… cuddly, even without touching each other. Sirius hadn't been able to help himself.

"Padfoot." Remus warned him.

Tonks laughed in her nervous way. Her face was flushed like she'd run a long way. "Um… look at the time, I must be going!"

"Dear me, did I interrupt something?" Sirius placed a hand over his heart. "My apologies, I shall wait in the vestibule."

He turned around, a wide grin on his face. Moony and Dora, who would have ever thought?

It wasn't even a minute of waiting by the kitchen when Remus marched over to him with a stony expression. Sirius placed his elbows on the island.

"Your tail's wagging." Remus muttered. Sirius scoffed. "My tail? What about yours? Since how long has this been going on?"

"Nothing's been going on!"

"So, is this it? Decided to start dating? A woman, at that?"

Remus exhaled, rolling his eyes. "I'm not dating her. And what d'you mean a woman?"

Sirius shrugged, reaching for a kiwi fruit from the bowl to the side. "I dunno. I always thought you'd end up gay."

He tossed the fruit in the air and Remus caught it with a huff. "I'm bi-curious, Sirius. And it's not about _ending_ up with a man or a woman. Have you forgotten everything Marlene explained in fifth year?"

"My bad, sorry. So, who asked first, you or Dora?"

"She asked – we're not dating!"

Sirius smirked. "Point for me. Come on, don't tell me you said no. When was the last time you let your hair down?"

Remus sat on the stool opposite Sirius. He looked down at the fruit in his hand, in deep thought. "It's not… like that. We can't just… go out, Sirius. Besides, she's far too young for me, I don't know what she's thinking."

There it was, doubting Moony. James had always said that Remus' best and worst quality was the fact that he over-analyzed everything. He was slightly old-fashioned, but practical and open minded. Tonks was fresh and full of life. She would be good for him and him for her.

"Look, if she asked you, it means she's thought over it enough. What were you guys discussing in the hall, anyway? It looked like you were in agreement."

Remus looked away for a second. "It's not that I don't admire her… She understands and… still, I'll be leaving tomorrow. So, what's the point?"

Sirius grimaced. Remus had signed up for an undercover mission to scout out more werewolves and o get more information on what Voldemort could be up to. He'd been going into the deepest routes of the wizarding world in Britain, searching for good places and people to start with. The next day, he'd be going to Bulgaria, to meet up with an old ally of Dumbledore's. He'd be gone for a month at the least, a year, if things didn't go the way they wanted.

In a way, Remus was right. If he and Tonks got together only for them to not see each other for months on end… it wouldn't be easy for either party.

But Remus just said that Tonks understood…

"Mate." Sirius grumbled. "You better not have let her down because of the factor of you being a wolf."

Remus couldn't escape his eye. He turned away and reached for the knife stand and a plate. Sirius groaned. "Seriously?"

"Don't start, Pad."

"Tonks knows you're one! And if she asked, it means it doesn't bother her!"

"It bothers me! I don't want to… I mean… what does she even see in me?"

"Did you ask her that?"

"…no." Remus' reply was so low that Sirius had to lean on the counter to hear it. "I… she's beautiful and smart and good. She can find anyone she wants."

"And she found you." Sirius emphasized, his voice soft but firm. Remus's shoulders went a little stiff. "Look, just talk to her, before you leave, alright. In fact, you can go over to her place and talk right now –"

"Sirius!"

"Or you can call her over here. I'll go over to Manhattan. I think Sally stocks up on oranges."

"I thought you wanted kiwi!"

"Tonks likes kiwi! Floo her!"

Sirius resisted a smirk as he leaped off his stool and headed for the fireplace. He never thought Tonks would find Remus attractive. Well, Remus was attractive, that wasn't the point, but her bouncy bravado would have conventionally suited a younger person. The age factor was also holding Remus back.

That and the potential year long mission.

Sirius didn't hesitate before flooing to Sally's apartment. It was a long shot that Remus would call Tonks, but maybe she'll come back on her own terms?

Sally wasn't at home. No problem. His work for the day, (which involved trying to stall Umbridge's final meeting with the school's board of directors and had failed) was done. So… Hogwarts' new History of Magic teacher was now Dolores Umbridge and that wouldn't be a disaster at all.

He stood in the small kitchen, looking at the dishes from breakfast, left in the sink. The distant sounds of cabbies arguing with other drivers and a series of honks could be heard from yonder window. He drew out his wand and flicked it. The tap started to run and the plates rose and began to wash themselves.

May be he could make something. It was close to four and the boys should be home… they should have been home by half past three, actually. Sirius looked around, wondering if they were in the house ad had just missed them, but no sounds came from any of the rooms.

The phone had a blinking light on it. Sirius walked towards it, trying to remember what it meant. A pink blinking light was a recorded message, right? Someone must have called and left a message on the answering machine.

Sirius pressed the required button and Sally's voice resonated from her own machine.

" _Hey, this is the Jacksons and di Angelo! We're not here right now, so just leave a message at the beep and we'll get back to you_."

Sirius remembered when she'd made that recording. Sally had been insistent on making it 'we' and including Nico. There was a short dot like sound after which the real message could be heard. Sirius frowned when it was her voice again.

" _Call me when you get this. I'm talking to the both of you. You know who I'm talking to. Rachel called me just now, so I'll reach home by four. If you're not here by then, I'm calling camp_."

There was a click and it went silent. The light was still blinking. There were probably other messages. Sirius felt wary. Sally had obviously been referring to Percy and Nico. She sounded worried, yet firm. Had something happened?

He thought back to when she had explained to him about how demigods weren't supposed to use mobiles, or cell phones as the Americans called it. Something about the radiation alerting their presence to monsters. Rachel had apparently called her.

There was a sound from the main door. Sirius stood up and frowned at it, raising his wand and moving towards the wall. It must be Sally, but there was a lot of fighting to get the key into the lock which made him doubt it.

The door flew upon and hit the side with a bang. Sirius raised his wand but stopped when Percy staggered in, the entire front of his sky blue shirt bloody. He was carrying a faint Nico on his back and was struggling to walk in without dropping him.

Sirius rushed forwards to help them. Percy jerked back, not having seen the man. His eyes were wet and wild. Suddenly, a bronze sword appeared in front of Sirius, the tip of it near his throat.

"Shit! Percy, it's me! It's Sirius!"

Percy blinked. There was a dazed look in his eyes. Then he simply leaned forwards and fell to the floor. Nico tumbled from his back and Sirius tried to catch both of them and ended on the ground with two unconscious boys clutched in his arms.

Sirius gasped, pulling his wand arm free and levitating Nico onto the sofa. He then rolled Percy on his back to examine the blood. His shirt was sticky and stained so badly that it had to have been at least a pint of blood. Sirius waved his wand once over Percy, but determined no life threatening injuries. His knuckles were bruised and the back of his neck was red like something had burned him, but he seemed fine, just exhausted.

Sirius pulled him onto the rug before checking Nico. The boy was perfect. No cuts, no bruises. There was a red blemish on his cheek and neck, but the skin was unbroken.

It wasn't their blood, Sirius guessed. He still felt uneasy and tried to _Scourgify_ Percy's shirt. Most of the stain disappeared, but the cloth still looked bad. Percy's eyes were half open and the hand clasping his sword had a tight grip.

"Percy, can you hear me?" Sirius waited for a response but when he got a groan, decided to leave him be. "Look, I'm going to bring you to your bed, is that alright?"

Percy was saying something. Sirius placed his ear near his mouth and could hear him say, " _Hurts._ "

"Where does it hurt? Is something cut? Are you thirsty?" Sirius kneeled. "I'll get you water. Hold on."

It took him nearly ten minutes to get Percy to drink. The first time Sirius held a tumbler of water to his mouth, Percy took a sip and spat it out, coughing heavily. The second time, he kept shaking his head, crying.

Whatever happened, whether it was a monster or anything, it had to have been bad. Percy and Nico had once joked about meeting monsters on the way to school. It had sent shivers down Sirius' spine, but they'd seen it as normal. But right now, Nico was completely out and Percy was crying and shaking so badly…

Sirius finally got Percy to his bed. He ran back to get Nico. When both boys were down, he leaned against the wall to take a breath.

Somehow, Percy had fallen asleep between the sobs. He was still holding Riptide and that made Sirius nervous. What if he moved in his sleep and accidently swiped something?

He bent over, thought back to how Percy utilized his sword and then pressed his thumb to the base of the handle.

It made a small whooshing sound as the blade retracted into a pen. Percy didn't stir. Sirius sighed in relief. He looked back at Nico who was now sprawled on his sheets. Both their clothes were dirty. Even Nico's t-shirt was stained all around the collar.

But neither of them was hurt that grievously to bleed. Or… Sirius shook his head at his denseness. They must have had their godly foods to heal up after whatever happened. That was good. From what it had seemed, one of them, or both, had bled a lot.

Sirius heard the door open again and the sounds of heels clicking against the floor told him who it was. He walked out of the room and into the hall to find Sally kicking off her shoes in a hurry. She looked up in surprise.

"Sirius? What are you doing here?"

"I just… Just to see you. But I heard your message and then –"

"What message? I didn't send you anything." She said sharply. She stood up, back stiff and worry etched in her face.

"No, I'm talking about your answering machine! And then Percy and Nico were there –"

"They were on the phone?"

"No, they came home –"

"They're here!" She cried.

"Sally!" Sirius was exasperated. Now that the adrenaline was gone, he felt tired. "They're in their room, they're fine –"

She didn't wait to hear the rest of his explanation, rushing towards the boys' room. Sirius followed her, watching her fuss over them to her content.

"Where did all the blood come from?" She muttered, checking Percy's shirt for the marks that Sirius had missed. Then she walked over and sat on Nico's bed to examine him.

"That's… they're alright. Just tired." Sirius was glad she hadn't been there to see Percy's adverse reaction and the red on his shirt. She might have been able to handle it, but no parent deserved the sight of that. It reminded Sirius of when they'd found Harry under the burning building. The caustic feeling of vulnerability and wanting to scream was as bad as spending twelve years with dementors. In fact, Sirius thought he'd choose to repeat his Azkaban stint than have Harry go through anything like that again.

"Did they say anything? Like what attacked them or why they left school? Rachel told me that she hadn't seen Percy all day and Nico had apparently left for a completely different reason." Sally was saying. Sirius caught a bit at the end.

"They came back together." He replied, sitting beside Percy's legs. "They didn't say anything."

* * *

 _Saturday, 22 Sept.  
Hogwarts – 4:05 p.m.  
Manhattan – 11:05 a.m._

Harry met an excited DJ, hyped on the fact that they'd be leaving the castle for a few hours to see Rachel. It was the best part of the week, to say the least. After the madness of the last few days (him having to inform Angelina that he'd need to take a back seat to Quidditch for a few weeks, sitting for Umbridge's atrocious History classes, receiving Remus' first off shore letter, discovering how much of a twisted life Merope Gaunt had lived and finding a new wisdom tooth uncovering itself), he was ready for a presumably awkward adopted parents and godfather meeting up to see if all the kids can get along like a nice, sweet family.

It was… weird. Harry had to admit it.

"Okay, so Sirius'll pick us up at half past four, right? From McGonagall's office? Do we have everything? The map, the clo – did you pack the book?! I totally forgot!"

"DJ, it's all in the bag. We'll show her everything. Besides Bolt would have already told her as much as she could, so relax, will you? This is supposed to be therapy."

DJ took a deep breath. "What if –"

"You don't tell DJ to relax." Ginny interrupted. Harry and DJ swiveled in surprise to find her standing there, her hands clutching a broom and a smile on her face. She looked fresh and ready for the evening. Harry stared at the broom, an older model of the Cleansweep, and he looked up at her. She was happy about something. It showed in her face.

"He can't relax." Ginny continued with a grin. DJ huffed.

"Yeah, well… you were spying on us! What did you hear?"

"Nothing. Relax." She smirked and marched towards the portrait. Harry got a whiff of a flowery scent from her wet and scruffy hair. She'd just brushed it messily.

"Why d'you have a broom?" Harry blurted, eager to say something.

She opened the portrait and turned to say, "Practice."

She left and Harry tried to think what perfume she'd been wearing. It was a wild one, not chemical. It was like she'd worn invisible flowers in her hair.

"Oh yeah, she wants to try out for the team." DJ nodded. "She's been practicing at the Burrow. Don't tell Ron, none of them know."

By them, he meant her brothers. How she'd managed to evade them of the fact was a mystery to Harry.

"Your mouth's open." DJ said. He was looking at Harry suspiciously.

"My tooth." Harry muttered, clamping it shut. "I'll need to get it looked at. Let's go, anyway."

Hermione and Ron didn't know about Rachel. Harry didn't know how to tell them and even less, didn't want to tell them. Not that they were untrustworthy, it was just a weak point and he believed the less people knew the better. Still, there was the unending guilt when he'd lied to them and said that he and DJ were going to Frost.

DJ had done the same thing. None of his friends could fathom why he was necessary for whatever they'd be doing. The fact was that DJ wasn't necessary, just important.

There was a difference. If you were going to meet family, you need to bring along an ally.

They exited the grate in the Jacksons' apartment. The atmosphere in New York was exorbitantly varied to that of Gretna Green. It was warmer and noisier. Sirius shook off his long robes, revealing regular muggle clothes underneath. He looked smart and distinguished as the freelancer-slash-consultant he was posing.

Harry and DJ were in pressed shirts and trousers. It wasn't the school uniform, but Sally had advised them that a family like the Dares would expect a little dressing up for any sort of encounters. They had to look presentable and first impressions were everything. If Mr. and Mrs. Dare took a fancy to the three of them, they'd allow Rachel more leeway considering contact with Harry. And later, if necessary, could be told about witches and wizards.

Sally and Nico were on the couch, watching a stand-up comedy show on the telly. Nico was bundled up in his comforter, though it wasn't that cold. Sally had an arm around him, as he cuddled up to her.

"Good morning." Sally gave them a wide smile. "Ready for the meet up?"

"What if they think we're too odd?" DJ asked, eyes popping out.

Harry rolled his eyes. "If you get so worried meeting your cousin, what are you going to do if you ever go for a date?"

Nico chuckled. He looked better.

"Morning, Sally, Nico. How are you?" Sirius greeted.

"Better." Nico nodded, looking up at them. "Good luck."

"We'll need it." DJ said, pulling at the sleeve of his shirt. "I just know something's gonna go wrong."

Sally got up and said, "Sirius, a word, please?"

The adults went to the kitchen and Harry whispered, "A galleon says they're snogging."

Nico laughed when DJ gasped. "No, they're not!"

"Are you taking the bet?"

DJ shook his head after clearing his throat. "I'm not betting against you." He moved around the couch and sat next to Nico. "Did you go to school yesterday?"

"No." Nico muttered, settling back into his space and pulling the cover over his head. DJ shared a glance with Harry. They knew something had happened a couple of days ago. Apparently, Gabe, Sally's late husband, had come back from the dead and Nico had gone to look for him. Percy was searching for Grover and somehow, the both of them ended up somewhere in Harlem where a monster caught them off guard, killing Gabe and injuring them.

Nico hadn't been able to remember what had happened. Percy had to carry him back home, unable to catch a taxi due to all the blood and the stumbling. Some of the drivers who slowed down had assumed that they were high and for some reason, none of the mortals had been able to see the blood on them.

"Where's Percy?" Harry asked.

There was low sigh. "He's on a date with Annabeth. They went to Central Park."

"Annabeth? When did she get here?"

"This morning. Her school has a homecoming party or something this weekend and Monday's a holiday, so she's staying at camp."

"Just for a few days?" DJ said, looking towards the TV.

"They haven't been on a date before." Nico muttered. Harry wished he could do something. But Nico's problem was that he was tired and scared. He hadn't been to school for two days after the attack and the fact that he couldn't remember what had happened, obviously got on his nerves. He'd lost a lot of blood and had healed only when Percy had jammed ambrosia squares down his throat.

"Did you talk to your friends?" DJ wondered.

"Friends?" Nico looked up confused.

"Yeah, from Camp. It could help. Or you could go there and spend a day. I mean, Annabeth's leaving this evening, I'm guessing, you could go with her. Or you could just call them."

DJ's suggestion made Nico's tense shoulders relax slightly. "Yeah, I'll do that. I'll call them."

Sally and Sirius left the kitchen and walked back to the living room. Sirius was searching his pockets for something. "Hey, Nico. Guess what I have here?"

"Chocolate Frog?" Nico asked.

"An owl?" DJ posed.

"A telescope." Harry said.

"No, no and, (really Harry?) no." Sirius removed a shiny card, larger than a playing card. Harry wondered if it was from an Exploding Snap pack but Nico raised his head and kneeled on the couch, turning around in excitement.

"You found Tyche!" He crowed as Sirius gave him the Mythomagic card. Harry saw the picture of a fair woman with long brown hair, holding a large ram horn. She sat on the edge of a wheel like a chariot's and had a strange smile on her face, like she could trick anyone.

"Where was she?" Nico asked turning the card in his hands, searching for any imperfections.

"With Kreacher. We were cleaning out his little cove and found a lot of my family's memorabilia and other junk along with the card. He claimed to have picked it up from near the fire place, but…" Sirius shrugged. "Is there anything else you were missing?"

"Nope."

"I lost my socks." DJ piped up.

"Was it the ones with the horrendous flobberworm depictions?" Harry asked which made Nico laugh. "In that case, you should consider it good luck that you don't have them."

"Luna gave them to me! And she said that they were tulips."

"I know tulips and that wasn't a flower."

"I'll search for them, in any case." Sirius interrupted. He gave Sally a kiss on the cheek and nodded towards the door. "Time to leave, boys."

"Bye. Have fun." Sally called out, waving her hand. She made a flamboyant gesture which made Harry and DJ grin. Nico, looking happier with his Mythomagic card, had settled back onto the couch, waving as well.

Sirius was excited to go into the muggle world. He was able to flag down a cab and it took them a rocky ten minutes to reach Rachel's apartment.

The Dynasty was a tall building, equipped with its own large backyard and helipad. It was several floors high and embodied the look of a seven star hotel. On the upper floors, Harry spotted large balconies that ran across whole sides, filled with decorative climbers like money plants and honeysuckle. It was blooming now. Even from the outside, it was obvious that the Dares were a cut above the popular elite.

"Every time I look at this building, it gets bigger." DJ commented. Sirius whistled.

"What say? Do you want to live in a place like this?" He asked.

"We already do." Harry reminded him. "Hogwarts is grander than this, wouldn't you agree, Sirius?"

"Oh, yes! Definitely. Still…"

Mr. and Mrs. Dare, or rather Patrick and Beatrice as they requested Sirius to call them, greeted them from the entrance. They'd been waiting at the top of the stairs for Rachel who was still at Goode for some extracurricular activities.

"She'd called to say her turn was near the end. Strange since the letter D is near the start of the alphabet." Beatrice sniffed. She smiled at them, nonetheless. "No matter, we shall wait inside."

She invited them in as Patrick said, "Tryouts will be finished in another twenty minutes. I'll send Allan over to pick her up."

"Oh we could go too!" DJ interjected. Harry raised his eyebrows. DJ had mentioned that it wasn't fair for him to not have been around the city as much as Harry. Clearly, this was his way in.

Or maybe, he was just wary of Patrick and Beatrice. Rachel's mother had a way of making anyone feel small. Her father was alright, though. He made small talk with Sirius and seemed quite easy going for a successful businessman.

"If you'd like." Patrick shrugged. Sirius looked at them in a parody of betrayal. "Sure, go on ahead. I can entertain our hosts. No problem."

Harry chuckled. "If you say so, Sirius."

He and DJ followed the driver, Mr. Allan Colt, to a limo. An actual stretched limo. It was as long as two Nissans parked bumper to bumper. Its sleek black paint coat made it all the more better and DJ simply stood outside for a few seconds too long after Allan had opened the door for them. Harry had to nudge him inside.

"Merlin, this is like pure leather! Harry, have you ever been in a limo?!"

"Remember the Ministry cars, DJ?"

"Pshhh! That's nothing like this."

They inspected the incredible leg space that could have fitted an inflatable toddler pool, the tinted windows, the TV screens that could be activated by touch, the wireless telephone and long section that was locked but had a symbol of a wine glass. The floor carpet smelled like the earth.

It was strange. For all its executive tech, this sudden grounding reality touched Harry just like the first rains after a long summer. He wondered what sort of car perfume could evoke such a smell.

Allan rolled the car into a smooth stop. He turned to face them through the space. "Ms. Dare will be on the grounds. I believe visitors are allowed on the weekends."

They left the car and walked through the open gates. Goode was outsized as ever. Beside its schooling buildings, lay enough ground for two Quidditch pitches. One portion was covered in green turf and the other had a regular mud layer. Several people were exercising for different games, applying for the teams.

The soccer team was on the closer side of the pitch. At least twenty girls were dressed in shirts and shorts, demonstrating free kicks and keeping. The coach was a hefty woman who loved her whistle since she kept blasting it.

Rachel could be spotted easily. Her hair was tied in a tight plait and she was stretching her sides by twisting her torso left and right. DJ raised his hand in a frantic move and caught her attention. She looked surprised.

The coach whistled in two sharp blasts and called all participants to her side. Harry and DJ waited on the sidelines. They looked around, watching the other teens practice and try out other sports. Cheerleaders were on a break, muttering in fierce whispers to each other. Harry noticed them staring at him and cleared his throat to look away. He remembered the Empousai who had disguised as cheerleaders during orientation day. He felt a little chary of them even if these teens were human.

The soccer coach whistled again and the group dispersed. Rachel jogged towards them, sweating and smiling.

"Hi! Oh shi – I'm late, aren't I?"

"Yeah." Harry said. DJ rolled his eyes at him.

"No worries, so how'd it go? Are you on the team?"

She walked past them and said, "Follow me. They'll post the results next week. A lot more people than expected turned up. I don't know how I was though. Monroe didn't seem irritated or anything when it was my turn. She's the coach."

"Don't worry. Athleticism runs in the family."

DJ chocked when he heard Harry's words. Rachel stared at him and nearly knocked over her own bag as she stepped on the strap.

"Thanks…"

Harry shoved his hands in his pockets, cursing silently. Clearly the family thing was too soon.

"So, is Percy with you?" She asked before pulling out a gatorade bottle.

"No. Just us." DJ asked, blinking rapidly. Harry noticed that he and Rachel were nearly the same height. DJ might have been an inch shorter. Harry cleared both of them by at least five.

Rachel's face fell. She turned away and started to pack her bag. "Oh. 'Kay."

DJ shot Harry a look. He held back a sigh. It was getting pretty obvious that she liked Percy a lot.

Rachel heaved the sports bag over her shoulder and nodded. "Let's go."

* * *

The sun was fierce but they had found the perfect spot in the shade of a few trees. Annabeth let out a long sigh and lay on her back on the sheet they'd spread. Percy leaned against the tree, staring at her content face.

Their first date. Ordinarily, it would have brought all sorts of tingling feelings just thinking about it, but Percy felt nervous in a different sort of way.

He couldn't stop thinking about Gabe and Tom. And what he'd done. He'd ever killed a mortal before…

Except he had. Some of the death eaters on the Hogwarts grounds during the Third task had met his blade in the most grisly fashion. But this…? It was nothing like that.

"Oh gods, will you stop thinking so much?" Annabeth mumbled. She hadn't even opened her eyes to see his worried face. "I can smell smoke."

Percy cleared his throat. "Isn't that supposed to be my line, Wise Girl?"

Tom had appeared yet. Percy was waiting for him to interrupt their date, to call him to do something, because he knew that Percy would not be able to stop him this time. The cold locket lay close to his skin and invisible. Annabeth would have been too sharp to catch it otherwise.

She propped herself up on her elbows, tilting her head back. Her eyes shone. She was happy. Percy practically felt all the tension leave his body. He leaned down to kiss her.

It had been a long time since they'd been together. They'd started dating near the end of the summer and then had to leave for school. Living on opposite sides of the coasts, the chance of running into each other was a solid zero. They had to spend at least a few days planning to meet up and this was the only time they'd been successful.

He couldn't tell her what had happened. He couldn't tell anyone. Nico remembered nothing. Sally thought it was a freak accident, Gabe escaping, everyone assumed Percy had been searching for Grover and Tom knew he could hold all this information as blackmail.

Annabeth's lips tasted sweet like a fruit. Percy wanted to sink into her skin and hide from Tom.

Speaking of which, Tom hadn't appeared since Annabeth had arrived and it only made him more afraid.

"Seriously." Annabeth pulled away, a frown marring her expression. "What's wrong?"

He couldn't tell her. He wanted to tell her. He wanted to fix it, but couldn't. He had tried to fix it but had failed. Nico had nearly died and Gabe had been murdered and it was all Percy's fault.

"I… I was… I hit a dead end,… with Grover…" He whispered.

Their faces were close enough that he was afraid that she'd be able to see through the lie. Her silver eyes were trained on his and he looked away, sitting up. She sat beside him, looping her arm through his.

"He's not dead." Annabeth murmured. Percy swallowed, shutting his eyes.

"What if they have him?"

"They won't kill him." She said. "They know that will alert you. And not even the titans can break a mind link without Grover's cooperation. We know that he's tougher than that."

Percy dropped his head on to her shoulder. She wound both arms around his neck. Her breath tickled his neck. The noises of traffic were far away and the voices of any people around them disappeared.

He lifted his head by an inch and pressed his lips to her neck. She stiffened and he leaned back immediately. "Sorry, was that bad?"

"Um… no…" Her face was flushed under the tan. "It's … it's better to be alone for that."

"Yeah, well. I sort of wanted to go out with you. Literally and meaningfully…" He muttered, trying not to smile. His feelings were all over the place. He was worried about Grover, scared of Tom, relaxed with Annabeth. How the satyr couldn't sense the jumping emotions, gods knew.

Annabeth let him go and sat back. He found himself staring at the strands of grey in her hair. She was rubbing her chest, eyebrows furrowed.

"What's wrong?" He asked, looking up from the action when he realized where he'd been staring.

"Oh… nothing. Strap must have been digging in."

Percy felt his body grow cold.

* * *

 **Sooooo tired. But stay tuned everyone…**

 **Q: Why couldn't Voldemort take complete possession of Harry in OOtP?**

 **Cabba.**


	18. Talks

**All your reviews give me great joy to read. Thanks so much!**

 **A: Yup. Harry's ability to love and the acceptance of friendship and trust confuses Voldemort so much he runs away, crying and noseless. Something like that anyway.**

 **Listening to – Victory by Two Steps From Hell**

* * *

 _Saturday 22_ _th_ _Sept.  
Monhattan – 11:30 a.m._

Nico kept turning Tyche's card in his hands. She was like Nemesis, if he thought about it enough. Tyche symbolized luck, good and bad. The goddess wasn't one to toy with and he felt a little nervous, wondering what it could mean for the future.

Good luck – The problem of Gabriel Ugliano was solved. The monster, whatever it was, had killed him and the moment his soul reached the Underworld, Charon had shipped him off to a hasty judgement and he was languishing somewhere in the Fields of Punishment. Hades had appeared last night in his dreams and had given Nico a barely perceptible nod which was crappy-dad talk for _well done, son, for not making me look bad, for clearing the problem before the time limit_.

Bad luck – Nico had no idea what the hell had really happened. Percy didn't know what monster it was exactly that had attacked them, except that it was _snake like._ Nico had been out for hours, not aware when Gabe had been killed, when he himself had bled out, when Percy had even shown up.

Something was out of place. He could barely remember finding Gabe. After that, it was a blank till he came to in his bed, smelling of blood, Gabe's soul a distant cry in his head.

"There we go!" Sally chirped walking towards the couch and holding two tall glasses of green liquid. Nico couldn't help but wrinkle his nose at them.

"I've diluted it." She assured him. "Drink how much ever you can. But a few sips at least, Nico."

The spinach juice wasn't the best thing he'd ever tasted. He'd rather have some nectar, but his body was completely healed. He just needed some nutrition as she'd said. It wasn't like he hated the juice anyway.

"Just a bit." Nico said, taking a sip. It still felt strong. He wasn't sure how Sally and Harry found it so easy to down a whole tumbler of it.

She smiled and turned towards the TV noticing that he'd changed the channel. He offered her the remote. "Do you want it?"

"Oh, no. It's fine. Brooklyn Nine Nine is fun, anyway." She sat cross-legged next to him as they watched Jake Peralta and Amy Santiago argue yet again.

Nico felt like the silence was awkward even though Sally looked at ease, watching the show. He wanted to say something when another character appeared on screen. That's when he remembered Mr. Dhruv and his own feelings and…

"Did you know Ray Holt is gay?" Nico exclaimed.

Oh gods! Why did he say that? Why!

"Hmm? Oh yes. He says that in the first episode." She turned towards him. "The series is categorized under comedy, but I'm glad they've included serious and important aspects."

"He's black." Nico muttered.

"Yes…?"

"Um… he said that it's why it took him so long to get his promotion."

Why was he talking about this? It was similar to his own situation (except for the fact that no one knew it and he wasn't striving for a promotion in his studies). If anyone, he should be telling all this to Bianca!

Sally lowered her glass to watch him carefully, Nico tried not to shrink. He felt like there was a neon sign above his head with bright words _– This half Italian, half Greek dark demigod boy is gay!_

"Do you know what homophobia is, Nico?"

"When straight people hate gay people…?"

"It's a little deeper than that." She set her glass down. "Discrimination means to treat certain communities as lower or without rights based on specific classifications. Here, if person A hates person B just because B is gay, it's discrimination; because of the fact that B is gay can have nothing to do with their personality. Do you follow?"

"I think so. Being gay has nothing to do with being good or bad."

Sally gave a well meaning shrug. "That's the gist of it. Lots of species of animals have homosexual pairs. I guess it's to control the population. That happens with penguins, did you know?"

Nico sat up, eyes wide. "Penguins are gay!?"

She laughed. He felt less nervous about the topic of conversation. "You can look it up. It's cute. They help take care of eggs and children whose parents might have abandoned them or died."

Suddenly, the talk hit very close to home. Nico's excitement dulled down.

Sally noticed it. "Oh, no, Nico! I didn't mean –"

"It's alright! Besides, I just… I like Captain Holt, his character, I mean… that's it. There's nothing else to it. He's cool. Like, he didn't give up but kept working to get what he wanted."

She nodded, watching him carefully. Nico had a feeling she knew.

"He is cool. He worked twice as hard as many others and got barely half of what he deserved. Being made leader gives him some of his power back. See, the problem of him being gay didn't lie with him. It was with the people who didn't understand what it meant to be outspoken about things about your own orientation or your body… gender is a social construct, straight is seen as default, though it really shouldn't, same with white, same with male, religion and a hundred other things everyone is divided into."

Nico knew that she could go into an hour long speech on 'discrimination'. It was a big word. He hoped it would be in the dictionary. That was silly, of course it would be there.

She nodded towards him. "Nico, if you want to talk –"

"The juice is great." He said and started to gulp it down in great swigs. Anything to avoid _that_ conversation. He finished his glass and set it on the small table in front of them. Then he burped.

She raised an eyebrow.

"Excuse me." He muttered. He looked around for something else to say when he remembered Gil.

"You know, my friend Gil has two moms. Like, they're married and all."

Sally grinned. "Does he love them?"

"He talks about them a lot. They always pack his lunch and play tennis at a local club on Tuesdays."

"That sounds like a beautiful family. They spend time with each other."

She was smiling, looking less likely to ask about him so he said. "Why were they afraid of him? Captain Holt is good and always follows the rules, right?"

Sally smirked. "Well, always… people are idiots. They're afraid of what they don't know and many of the them don't bother searching answers from the right places. They don't bother being polite because they don't even realize how privileged they are. A good example would be Privet Drive."

"You mean Private…?"

"No, Privet Drive is the name of the neighbourhood where Percy and I stayed in England. We were right next to Harry's house. Most of the families there were helpful and nice unless you had money problems or a scandal with your name on it. In my case… well, my husband wasn't a very pleasant man. He gambled too much. We lost a lot of money, lost our jobs and were deported later."

Sally was under the impression that the only thing Nico had known about Gabe was that he'd escaped the Underworld and that he'd been her husband. But he remembered reading his record. Gabe had been more than unpleasant. The word 'abusive' came to his mind and Nico held back a cringe. He couldn't imagine anyone wanting to hurt Sally. Suddenly, he wasn't so worried about the monster having killed him.

Not to mention, the record also mentioned that he'd lent a lot of cash to someone. Stephen… Definitely Stephen… someone. May be that's were all the money went. Gabe gave it away.

She shook her head. "Well, it was never meant to last. How was I to know he'd gotten a work VISA and not the to –"

"I thought Harry liked you and Percy."

"Harry didn't have a problem with us. It was his aunt and uncle, really. And many of the neighbours weren't happy with the way I'd taken care of my garden. It stood out from the others, you see. I'd let Harry do whatever he wanted with it, he kept practicing his magic there, it turned out very green and luxuriant compared to the neatly trimmed hedges and perfect lawns of the other houses." Sally rolled her eyes.

"They didn't like you because of the garden?" Nico asked, slowly. It sounded ridiculous.

She raised an eyebrow. "They didn't like my age either. I was in my early twenties with a kid I'd had in my teens. And of course, no one liked Gabe. I have no doubt in thinking that we were the gossip of the lane."

Nico hugged his legs where they were propped in front of him. "How old were you… when you… when you had Percy?"

The smile fell from Sally's face and Nico tried to back track, "Sorry, I just tho –"

"It's alright. I met Poseidon when I was seventeen, had Percy when I was eighteen. It feels like another life time, looking back at it now."

Nico gripped his covers. She'd been a teenager still. Had his mother been that young too? Had she been a teenager, eighteen or seventeen, may be even sixteen, who knew? Hades knew. He'd never tell Nico or Bianca. Nico remembered nothing about his mother. Bianca had a few memories. She'd told him Zeus was the one to kill her because Hades had spent too much time in the mortal realm with the di Angelos.

He swallowed, suddenly wishing he never spoke up.

"Sorry." He whispered. He didn't say anything but just watched the episode on the TV.

He saw her looking at him, out of the corner of his eye, but trained his gaze on the screen. Holt was talking to Terry, probably discussing on how to deal with Terry's brother-in-law.

The door bell rang.

Nico idly wondered if Harry, DJ and Sirius were back. It was just after lunch. Would they reach so soon?

Sally had gotten up to answer the bell. Nico turned around to look at the two women standing on the other side of the open door. They wore smart shirts and trousers, similar to what Sally would wear for work. Nico frowned. One of them was holding up a gold badge to her, stating, "NYPD, ma'am. Are you Mrs. Sarah Jackson?"

She cleared her throat, "It's Ms., actually."

"We'd like to talk to you regarding a vital matter, ma'am." The taller woman said. She sounded scary and Nico had the urge to brandish his sword at her neck. But they weren't monsters. Monsters couldn't find the apartment.

"I'd like to see your badge again, Officer...?"

"Detectives Paeta and Oren." The first woman said. The second stood to her right, looking past Sally and at Nico. She seemed completely human and normal – with smooth pink skin and dense black curls set back with a band. The first detective had short brown hair, just a few shades lighter than her skin tone. , but Nico kneeled on the couch, less wary, suddenly interested.

Sally inspected the metal badge again before letting the detectives in with a polite nod. She closed the door behind them and they walked over by the couch, looking around the room. Nico kept staring at them and Sally walked towards wear he was perched.

"Would you like some juice?" She asked.

They nodded and Sally looked towards Nico, meaningfully. He got up, shaking the covers off and went into the kitchen to pour the spinach juice into two fresh tumblers. He could hear what they were speaking.

"We're here to talk about a burglary from the Cedor Art Gallery in SoHo. A contribution of yours, 'The Poker Player' was reported missing last night, Ms. Jackson."

Nico nearly dropped the jug of juice. His feet felt stuck to the floor as his mind's eye could see the statue of Gabriel Ugliano, last victim of Medusa, in the art gallery. He'd been there. When Annabeth had told him about her first quest, about Percy's first quest, Nico had done some digging.

He'd found out where Percy had lived. Found out the exact place Gabe had died on that solstice. A decrepit looking building that housed struggling people of colour, in a little section in Harlem, that's where Gabe had died the first time. That's where Nico had found him, found Percy...

No, Percy had gotten there after the monster. Hadn't he? Yes, after the monster found him and Gabe...

Nico shook his head, trying to come back to the task at hand. He poured the juice properly and took the glasses on a tray for the detectives. He sat beside Sally who looked far too cool and collected for it to be natural.

* * *

 _Central Park – 11:40 a.m._

"I'm planning to leave school."

Percy's head shot up from Annabeth's lap. She looked resigned but determined.

"Wait… but you wanted to study–"

"I know! It's getting to be too dangerous. Last week alone I faced three monsters and my dreams aren't getting any better. I missed two submission deadlines and my homeroom teacher asked me if I needed counselling, so yeah, it's not going well."

Percy looked up at her trying to find a trace of anything that might explain the stoic resolution.

Annabeth turned away to look at the people around them. The place was like a large garden with flat grass. Many had spread out blankets like them and were having little picnics, enjoying the warmth of the day. It was designated to be a no-stress weekend.

Her curls had fallen from her bun and framed her face in a soft golden halo. Percy reached up to touch one of them drawing her attention back to him. She smiled.

"What about your dad?" He asked.

She huffed. "I mean, my step mom's been trying, so that's nice. Dad's pretty cool about everything and Bobby and Mathew don't see anything out of the ordinary… but it's not just that. Like I said, the monster attacks are getting frequent. It doesn't help that I'm on the west coast, that's as far away from demigod territory as possible."

Her face betrayed something and Percy didn't look away from her. Annabeth exhaled heavily and muttered, "My aunt died."

Percy sat up like someone had delivered him an electric shock. Annabeth didn't look sad, but he recognized the closed off expression. "Ann –"

"I haven't seen her since I was seven. Still… her kid's in Boston and his dad skipped out on him a long time ago… our uncle took him in… "

"Was it… how did she –"

"My dad wouldn't say. Aunt Natalie was estranged from the family some years ago. She and Magnus, that's my cuz, didn't have much interaction." Annabeth shrugged, still trying to seem blasé about it.

"Do you want to see him? Your cousin? Like, you want to go to Boston?"

"I dunno! There's so much trouble here, I'm afraid of bringing along a monster if I go there. That's been happening a lot, I'm surprised we weren't followed here, actually." She looked around like something was about to pop out from behind the trees.

Percy took her hand. "Did you talk to him?"

"No. I have my uncle's number…"

"Then you can come back to my house and call him from there!"

Annabeth sighed. "Uncle Randolph is sort of… determined. Obsessed, really. I wouldn't be surprised of Mag decided to skip out on him."

"Still –"

"Yeah, I'll call him."

She stayed quiet and Percy tried to think of the right thing to cheer her up. He couldn't come up with anything, but she asked anyway, "How is Nico?"

"You just saw him when you came to the house."

"Yes, but how is he? You said that he was having trouble remembering things; that he didn't go to classes for two days. He wasn't that badly hurt, right?"

She asked as though he'd been knocked out. Percy stared at her, wanting to yell and at the same time, hug her and spill everything. Explained exactly what happened in the basement of that wretched building.

A cold feeling gripped his chest. Ice crept from the locket its tendrils like a spider with all its eight legs growing behind the locket, inside his heart. His tongue felt heavy and dry and all he could do was look at the ground blankly, willing the dreaded numbness to go away.

 _I won't tell her. She doesn't know anything, I won't tell her!_

Annabeth frowned, "Percy –"

His tongue unfurled and his voice was restored. "It's ... Nico's... fine... he just wasn't up for school, is all."

She sat back, frowning again. Percy hated that expression. It was the one that said, _I'm figuring you out, I'll know exactly what you're thinking of in T minus 20 seconds._

"I had called Thalia. They're leaving camp tomorrow, I just called to check in on things. Bianca was there, she said she hadn't felt much right about the time you killed that snake monster. If Nico really was very injured, as in, close to death, she'd have felt it right?"

Percy couldn't say anything. He had not even thought of that. Bianca didn't have such a strong affinity with detecting supernatural deaths as Nico did, but she'd been able to sense her brother, couldn't she? Of course, she could. But Nico had been close to death, he'd nearly bled out, how did she not know –

"Instead, she had a dream about Grover." Annabeth was saying.

"What!"

"It was odd." Annabeth agreed, taking his shock in as worry and fear for their friend. "She dreamt of a large cavern with a high ceiling, lush flowers and exotic plants all around, little animal critters prancing around the place, twittering birds and Grover, lying on a bed in the middle."

Percy's mouth was open. He tried to form the words, "But that... that sounds like..."

"Lord Pan." Annabeth nodded, eyes shining. "Thalia's right. Grover's more important than anyone thinks. _He's_ the one who found all four demigod children of the Big Three, _he_ realised that Polyphemus' island was a trap for satyrs and heroes for hundreds of years, _he_ followed Pan and found him deep in the Labyrinth. If the Titans have him, they must already have an elaborate plan in place."

"They're keeping him out of the way." Percy whispered. The mind link was open, but there was no response. "They won't kill him... they want him for something..."

"Or someone." Annabeth turned to face him fully. "We don't know. But they won't kill him, it'll give too much away. If he has a lot of power, if Pan has blessed him –"

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

"Are you thinking what I'm about to say?"

Percy let out a grave exhale. "You think he's... the next Lord of the Wild?"

Her face showed a sad sort of triumph. He leaned forwards and pressed his forehead to hers. She closed her eyes and Percy just stared at her.

He could recite exactly what Annabeth wanted out of life. She wanted an easy, proper relationship with her dad and the rest of her mortal family. She wanted a respectful understanding with Athena. She wanted a monster-less living as she went to school, aiming to be valedictorian. She wanted to work for a scholarship for a university degree in architect because she wanted to design buildings like skyscrapers.

They wanted to be closer to each other because the long distance thing wasn't easy. They didn't want a war hanging over their heads.

He didn't want to be possessed.

Percy looked at her dark cheeks. There were faint marks of recently faded acne. She looked adorable with them. Percy could imagine her as a regular school student with all the awkward teenage afflictions, but studying hard, surpassing her dyslexia and ADHD instincts, becoming the person she wanted to be.

He didn't want to think of how much it had cost her to admit defeat that school would not fit into her plans as a demigod who had to survive and fight in a war. He couldn't think of anyone with as much pride as she did, yet setting it all aside to prioritise her survival over life.

"Annabeth... are you moving to camp now?"

She didn't open her eyes. "I'll go back to 'Cisco after the weekend. If the week doesn't work out, I'm packing and moving back here."

A large part of Percy rejoiced. Selfish. He wanted to be close to her. But she'd always regret the choice even if it was the right one. May be she wouldn't be vocal about it...

"You know, there's a notice-me-not charm around my apartment." He told her.

Annabeth looked at him, moving her head back. She was frowning. "Yes, I know. Monsters can't sense you if you're inside the barrier."

"Yeah. Do you want that around your house? Your family would be safe and may be the monsters won't find you as much as they do."

She stared. "You also said Sirius took two weeks to set it up because it was all in a muggle area. Would he be willing to come all the way to San Francisco, all fourteen required days?"

"You're forgetting I know other wizards than just Sirius." Percy reminded her. He laced his fingers through hers and they looked down at their hands.

"Would Harry know a spell like that?"

"If you need, I'll look it up myself, teach it to him and bring him to your house to put up the spell. And then you'll owe me."

Annabeth grinned. "What would I owe you?"

"Oh not much..." His voice dropped to a whisper. He pressed his lips to her cheek, almost touching her ear. "A date."

He felt her shiver from his proximity, but her voice was steady. "We are on a date, Seaweed Brain."

He unwound his other arm from her hand and wrapped it around her waist. She fell silent and he knew she was looking around to see if anyone was watching them. Percy didn't care at the moment. He was intent on making her feel better, safer, happier, even if it was just for a few minutes.

After a second or so, she placed her hand over the back of her neck, pulling their faces closer. Their other hands were still interlocked at the fingers. It was like a dance pose except they were seated on their picnic blanket.

"A private date." He murmured, kissing near her eyelid. She let out a sigh and for the first time in several tense days, Percy felt completely burden free.

The locket was the same temperature as them, for the time being.

* * *

Lunch was early. With the time differences, the British were hungry and the French Americans had no problems with food. The six of them sat at a large glass top dining table and were served by a compendium of the house staff. There were a range of dishes placed between the six people which were slowly, but surely finished between them.

As they ate, they talked about everything necessary and not.

"Have you registered a case with the Ministry?" Patrick asked, once the soup was done.

Sirius shook his head. "No. I'm more invested with who bungled up the papers. You can't just miss a child in a wreck."

"You won't believe how many children go missing due to errors. It's disgraceful." Beatrice confirmed. "I'd ask the police who investigated the scene, the person who was first through the door."

"We're making the rounds. I have private investigators on it."

"We can help." Patrick suggested. Beatrice nodded and Rachel nearly choked on her water. She gave a wide eyed look towards Sirius who immediately placated them, "Oh, I already have a strategy in place. My lawyers are all over it."

"There's no such thing as too much help." Beatrice said, narrowing her eyes at her daughter who was shovelling her salad into her mouth to keep herself occupied.

"Yes, but I've been looking into this ever since Harry called me to check this." Sirius assured them and Harry swallowed his bite to back him up. "I did. I called him in the summer and we have good lawyers."

DJ kept quiet, probably too engrossed in his portion of black olive tapenade. He did look up when Harry spoke.

"The coffin was empty." Beatrice murmured, mostly to herself. "So there was a funeral."

"It was closed casket, I'm informed." Sirius said in a tight voice.

Rachel looked down at her lunch. Harry noticed that she'd stopped eating. It couldn't be easy, listening to this. They were trying to find out how the twins were separated and who was responsible, inadvertent or not.

"I believe children's burials are always close casket." Patrick said. His spoon kept hitting the plate as he stared at the table without blinking. "Why were you accused?"

Sirius sat back in his chair. "My family had ties with the terrorists. I'd left my parents years ago, but the night it went down, I realized one of our allies had lied about a plan and I tracked him down. In front of witnesses, we had an argument that put me in unfavourable light and then, he blew up the street to cause a diversion and escaped. Not my finest hour."

Harry felt a lump in his throat as Sirius spoke with no pause. Voldemort and the Death Eaters were spoken as an upcoming terrorist organization with radical ideology of government politics while the Order was seen as the resistance in the small county where it all took place before the Ministry could step in. It was a sketchy story, but Jasper and Alice had set up fake newspaper articles and headlines for the Dares to research online, if they should.

The plan was that before Sirius, Harry and DJ left, the former would cast a soft unobtrusive charm on the Dares to discourage them into looking into the matter. Rachel had decided that she didn't want her parents knowing about magic and Sirius had agreed with her. She wasn't a witch so it simplified matters.

"What about your friends or other allies?" Beatrice asked. She and Patrick were frowning. Could they tell that there was something amiss?

"We'd discovered that there had been a spy on our side." Sirius picked up his fork to spear his lettuce. "The blame fell on me and I was locked away without a trial. But then, evidence was found twelve years later, and I was released with good enough compensation and all my accounts unfrozen. I've joined my party –"

"The same party that had ostracized you?" Beatrice asked. Rachel was right, she was smart. Her questions were on point.

"The people had been my friends before we fought for the cause. I acknowledged their apologies, many of them had actually disbanded when I'd been arrested after the trial was dismissed, so I have no worries about them. It's the radical group that's stirring up problems again. Their second in command has risen. Last we heard, they're in middle Europe but reports say that they might come back to England. This is why I have no intentions of contesting for Rachel's adoption, so you have nothing to worry about."

That last line was what had won over her parents. They were obviously fretting about Rachel's rightful guardian protesting their parentage of her. Harry saw Beatrice's shoulders relax from its tense stance. Patrick smiled. "Thank you for confirming that, Sirius. Beatrice and I were ready for a fight, you know?"

"I had no doubt. Rachel, are you happy with your parents?"

"Yup… Yes, I mean yes." She nodded, sitting up straight and smiling as widely as she could.

"Then there's no problem." Sirius chuckled. "I'd invite the three of you for a visit, but truth be told, the atmosphere there is rather problematic. Many assume that she's dead and to be honest…"

"You'd like the rumours to stay that way." Patrick deduced.

Beatrice smiled. "We have no business in the UK… or rather the market in that domain is a small one and is better managed by my team. Our work is based in Paris and Aquitaine to where we frequently travel."

"France is not an issue." Sirius said.

"I'd hope so. Or else we'd be broke." Patrick said and then winked at Rachel who snorted.

"So you guys lived in France till you shifted here?" DJ asked, watching a waiter serve him chopsuey and vegetables. "How did that happen?"

"We adopted Rachel in 1998, early in the summer. We'll hand over the copies of the records. It was the Blue Fern Agency. They run a host of small orphanages in Aquitaine. We'd assumed that she was dropped off by a young mother at least that was what the authorities there had guessed. There were no papers or any evidence, just the blue blanket she had been wrapped in." Beatrice had spoken with an air of discovering distasteful information.

Patrick patted her arm. "The letter **R** had been sewn on the blanket. We guessed that's the initial of her birth name or family name."

"Rosalie Lillian Potter." Sirius said in a low voice. Harry saw his grip tighten on the spoon.

Patrick smiled. "A beautiful name. Is it on purpose?"

"What's on purpose?"

"The flowers. The Evans have that tradition. Lily and Petunia. Their mother's name was Violet, they had an aunt named Jasmine. To tell the truth, Rachel was named after a close friend who once saved Lily's life."

Harry and DJ looked up in confusion. A close friend... was he talking about Rosalie Hale? Of the Cullens?

Rachel looked at him, eager for the story. Unfortunately, in the presence of muggles, the real story had to be dulled down and lacked a lot of facts. The basic extent of it that Harry tried to piece in history was that Diagon Alley had been raided by Death Eaters some time in 1990 and Melody's (DJ mum) grand aunt, Rosalie Hale/Cullen/McCarthy and pulled the bleeding witch out from under debris after Voldemort had made a direct attack at her. James and she hadn't been together yet, but he'd been there as well with the other Marauders and Rosalie had calmed down Lily enough to leave her with James and rush back out to get other survivors to safety.

Her brave acts had not been acknowledged by the Ministry. Harry had never read anything about a vampire saving up to a score of people while the locality was under attack. Rosalie had never said anything about it either.

"Cool!" DJ said in wonder. "Aunt Rosalie never said anything about that!"

Harry hid a grin at the exclamation, glad they had had the same thought.

"She sounds like a hero." Patrick said, amazed by the simple story. At least, the muggle version of it sounded simple enough.

"She is. She didn't get her due credit, but we never forgot what she did. When Rosa – Rachel was born, she helped in taking care of her and Harry. She loves children. Rosalie had moved away after the Potters died, she had resigned in protest against the Ministry. But she picked herself up after a few years, fell in love, married... we're better now."

The Dares thought that Rosalie was Melody's aunt, heartbroken after her niece and friends' deaths. They were suitably impressed by the story. Harry felt a little sad, though. Rosalie had never said a word about it. Why hadn't she? It would have been easier for Harry and DJ to trust her from the beginning... well, it would have been easier for Harry. DJ had latched on to her ever since he heard the word 'aunt'.

"Did the government have a problem with her?" Beatrice asked, letting the waiter take away her empty plate.

"A problem of sorts, yes... why do you ask?"

"Well, it would be obvious that Rosalie should have taken in DJ and Harry, being the next of kin who actually cared about the children." She wrinkled her nose. "By your estimation, the Dursleys seem to prefer to keep away from the problem."

"Er... yes, she should have. The boys would have been much more informed... but at the same time, she was a known target of the party. Still is, actually. It was risky... "

"Hmm." Beatrice was still frowning. She looked at Sirius as though she could tell he was leaving important aspects out of the narrative.

"Do we have ice cream?" Rachel chirped, trying to distract them from the topic. "I'd like a dessert, anyone else?"

* * *

 **Gross inconsistency – Brooklyn Nine Nine aired in 2013. This story is set in 2012…  
But I just had to do this! Stay tuned, peoples.**

 **Q: What do Rachel's parents do in canon!Percy Jackson?**

 **Cabba.**


	19. Spoils of War

**A: Rachel's parents are land contractors(?) They basically tear down forestry to construct buildings and further concrete urbanisation, it's something Rachel hates.**

 **Sherlock Harry Winchester and Catie Cat - The answers you gave are right. I declare them so.  
Thanks so much, ShadeofDeath746!**

 **Listening to – Heathens by Twenty One**

* * *

 _Monday, 1_ _st_ _Oct.  
Manhattan – 3:00 a.m._

 _Hi Percy!_

 _It was a beautiful meeting and hope we can see each other again. I would love to introduce you to my best friends. I have three of them._

 _I think you are special because you are very social. My mum once said that the person who knows how to smile has already learnt an important lesson of life. I think your smile is one of the most perfect pieces of happiness I have ever seen. I am jealous. I wish I could smile like that._

 _Aside from that, it was your aura that caught my attention. Your ability to manipulate shields is so peculiar. It's different from what I can do. I suppose it is the same between you and Ron. The both of you can control water but it's still different, is it not? I've enclosed a list of book titles that have information about shield malleability. I think you will find it interesting._

 _We should see each other again. I have learnt how to make friends. October the fifth is our day off. We are excited for the long weekend. The Friday is our first Hogsmeade trip of the year. You'll be allowed into the village, I'm sure. Do you think you can make it?_

 _Your acquaintance,  
Luna Lovegood._

 _Safety First! – Basics to warding your house - article  
Core Magic: A Compendium  
Exceptions to a Spell – essay  
Magical Theory and Practice - essay_

.

The letter remained tucked in his pocket ever since Harry had given it to him. Luna's handwriting was a graceful scrawl, if such a thing existed. He could imagine her stopping every now and then, worrying if she seemed too forward. He remembered their brief conversation in the Great Hall of Hogwarts. Luna had been so open and likeable that Percy couldn't help but grin the entire time. Her suggestion of him reading was ridiculous; he wasn't sure why she thought he would willingly pick up a book. People usually saw him as book dumb. She was right about the happiness, though. It had been refreshing to meet someone like her.

If he hadn't been latched on to by a malevolent thing, aka Tom, he would have decided to go the moment he'd read the letter. He would have even taken Nico along with him.

Stupid Tom.

The clock flashed the time in the dark room. Nico's soft snores went undisturbed but Percy stared at the digital numbers that said that it was just past three in the morning. He hadn't been getting enough sleep as of late. For the first few weeks, people thought he simply looked tired. Yesterday, the kid in the apartment below them told Percy to 'lay off the juice for a while.'

There was only so much water he could splash on his face and heal the dark circles under his eyes. His skin had an unhealthy pallor like he had spent too many days underground. He was sure that by the time morning rolled by, Sally would stop fretting over him and drag him to a doctor or to camp.

Tom's shadow fell on the bed, across Percy's chest. He looked up and saw red eyes glint before receding into their normal colour. It was no longer freaky to watch.

 _You need to sleep. You're attracting too much attention._ Tom said.

Percy rolled his eyes. "I think I'm pretty healthy looking for a guy being possessed."

Tom looked over to Nico who hadn't stirred. He frowned. _I am not possessing you._

"Haunting?"

 _No._

"You've enchanted me, then." Percy muttered.

Tom walked over to look down at him directly. There was a hard look on his face. Percy saw the tell tale signs of him losing his temper and whispered. "Fine, sorry. It's not easy to pretend everything's normal, you know?"

The window was partially open to let cool breeze in. The curtains were drawn and the wind made them dance in hypnotic moves. It was easy to want to stare at that than at Tom, who sat down beside Percy's arm and let out a long sigh.

 _This is normal. Soon, you might even miss me._

Something was stuck in Percy's throat. His words wouldn't come out. He looked up at Tom, voiceless.

 _I don't want to hurt you_ , he continued. _You're strong, Percy. More than you give yourself credit. All I need is some more strength to function on my own and then, you will never have to see me again._

His voice came back with a vengeance. Percy sat up straight, practically flying out of the bed. He stared at Tom. "Wait... you'll leave me?"

 _Yes. Once I have enough power for independence, I will leave._

He was smiling. It was supposed to be comforting and in any other situation and on any other person, it might have been. But Percy had been learning Tom's little traits and behaviours. Luna was right. A smile showed just how much that person had learned out of life.

Tom knew how to get what he wanted to get. He was powerful, Percy couldn't have ten seconds of alone time without him barging into his mind. He knew exactly how to avoid sticky situations. Percy hadn't gotten into trouble at school yet. He just repeated Tom's words to worried and irritating teachers to placate them. He mimicked Tom's personality of casual coolness to keep everyone at a distance.

Including Rachel.

She hadn't talked to him in more than a week. Ever since Harry and DJ's first therapy ordained visit, she'd kept to herself and her new friends. Percy sat at their lunch table in the cafeteria, alone. The other kids found themselves wanting to avoid him. He could be invisible and the school would be the same. He could stop existing and none of them would bat an eye lid.

The same distancing didn't work on Nico or Sally. She had started to send him texts during the day. If Percy didn't reply at least three of them in a row, she'd call him. Then she'd call Nico. Never mind that demigods and phones didn't mix, if neither of them didn't pick up, Percy knew she'd drive down to Goode or worse, call back up from Camp.

Nico would pop in by the end of the break to catch a glimpse of Percy. If he thought that Percy would disappear with the lack of people wanting to engage with him... he might be right.

Percy hated school. He couldn't see why Nico liked it so much.

"You'll leave." He whispered again, wanting him to confirm. Tom's smile was wrong. It brought out his best features, but they were all twisted and made Percy want to lean away from him.

 _You have my word_. Tom repeated.

There had to be a catch. Percy kept staring till he raised an eyebrow. "What do you want?"

Tom sat back against the head board, eyes shining. _Good question. You're learning, Percy._

"What do you want?" He said, this time, trying to put more strength in the words.

Tom raised his hand and pressed his thump to the corner of his lips. Percy frowned. It was odd. He'd never been able to feel Tom's touch before. Right now, it was like he was half there and half... not.

 _I have to do something. Something that will require quite a bit of planning and a lot of magic. I've been practicing, but a good strategy can win the battle before it's begun._

The word struck a chord. It felt like he had meant something specific. "What battle?"

Tom just grinned.

* * *

 _Monday, 1_ _st_ _Oct.  
Hogwarts – 8:30 a.m._

Ginny was hot. More so than usual. DJ watched her as she didn't seem to notice the problem. Well, he couldn't really blame her... he could, but he didn't want to.

A good chunk of Gryffindors were in splits from watching her do her best impressions of their latest teacher, Dolores Umbridge. The woman was pathetic – as a teacher, as an adult and as a living being in general. She didn't teach history, more like made the students read the chapters in silence while she watched them. It was worse than Binns droning on the different wars. At least he spoke and gave a lot of information that did not feature in their standard books. Umbridge was a mere spectator in the destruction of their history lessons.

Mostly because a precious percentage of the school had lost their nap time.

The Monday was scheduled to be a dreadful one. Ginny, in an attempt to cheer up Colin, started to cough and talk like Umbridge which gained the popularity of everyone who heard her. At the moment, half the table were holding their snickers, falling over one another as Ginny folded her arms, screwed up her face and said in a high pitched monotone, "You will refer to me as Professor Umbridge. This is a school of class and high moral. Designations are of the utmost importance and one will refer to one with one's title, using the title to emphasize how uptight their titled arse is."

Hermione spat out a mouthful of pumpkin juice. Harry placed his head on the table, shoulders shaking. Ron forgot his toast and clapped a hand over his mouth. Colin was in tears and DJ was struggling to breathe. No one could keep a straight face.

"Mr. Creevey." Ginny turned her nose up at the blond. "Your tie is askew. As you very well know, dressing regulations state that the tie must be a tight noose short of strangling you. Why haven't you abided by the rule?"

Colin started to hiccup. DJ dropped his face into his hands.

"Ms. Patil." Ginny said, turning towards Parvati. "I see that your hair does not meet the required dressing appropriation. Why is your hair in curls? Tell it to be straight."

Lavender let out a snort amidst her giggles. Parvati thumped her on the back, unable to stop from laughing herself.

"Mr. Potter." DJ looked up but saw that she was addressing Harry who waited with bated breath. He was excited.

"What is that look on your face? Why are you smiling? I hardly think this is appropriate student behaviour. You must be as forlorn as attending a funeral. That is how I conduct my classes. The silence shows how dead my brain is."

Harry made no attempt to hide his laughter. His eyes were shut, body shaking from the mirth. DJ had never seen him laugh like that. It was a strange thing. Ginny had managed a feat seldom achieved in many years.

DJ was sitting right next to Ginny. Colin was on her other side, but his bag was between him and her. It seemed like nobody else could tell that there was something wrong. DJ was laughing but he could feel the uncomfortable heat. He felt sweat gather up on the sides of his face. His temple felt damp.

It was definitely Ginny. She was radiating a higher degree of temperature. It was not poetic in any sense.

"Ginny." DJ hissed. She looked at him, face alive with amusement. It faded when she saw the serious expression growing on his face.

"What?"

"You... we need to..." DJ darted his eyes to the entrance. Colin looked up, frowning suddenly as he looked at her. He could feel it too.

Ginny blinked. She seemed to realise that something was important.

"Gin?" Ron called as the three of them stood up together without any prior indication. Ginny was taking deep breaths. She turned towards Ron, opened her mouth but suddenly, the entire situation went south.

Sparks flew in her hair. DJ flinched when he saw a tiny strip of fire appear over her fingers. Ginny hid the hand under her robes, eyes growing wide. She looked flushed and Ron stood up as well.

"Come on." He hissed, gesturing her to follow him. The siblings were on opposite sides of the table. The others were looking up at them in confusion.

Colin said, "Ginny, it's okay. I'll call Luna, if you want."

Ginny gave a quick nod and followed her brother. DJ picked up her bag, watching her rush out of the hall. He saw Fred and George jump up from their seats to run after her.

"What was that?" Harry asked, moving to stand up. The others had turned back to their food, but Parvati said, "She seemed sick. But she was alright just a minute ago."

"Not sure." Hermione mumbled, but she was struggling in her haste to get out of the seat. She succeeded and said, "DJ, come with me."

Harry made to follow them, but she turned around and said, "Sorry, Harry. You can talk to her later. I'll see you in class."

He frowned, not liking the arrangement. Colin left to find Luna and DJ walked with Hermione, out into the hallways.

The student traffic lessened as they took the path towards the bathrooms. DJ hitched up both his and Ginny's bags on her shoulders. "Hermione, what's wrong?"

"It's... I'm not sure, but I have this feeling..."

The Weasleys hadn't been able to make it to the bathroom. Ginny was on the ground, back to the stone wall, head between her legs, breathing heavily. She looked like she would get sick any second.

"Ginny!" DJ ran towards them. George was crouched in front of her, speaking slowly and softly, "In and out, Gin. Breathe with me. In and out."

Ron was tense. "Fred's gone to get Pomfrey."

"Ginny." Hermione kneeled next to George, careful to keep distance from Ginny. "Is it your core?"

Ginny let out a rattling breath. "I... can't..."

"You can." George said, encouragingly. "You can, Gin. In and out."

She gave a groan. DJ jumped as Hermione and George fell back. A heat flare surged from Ginny's hands, exerting outwards, pushing them away. It was an orange burst of light, extending in a large arc around her body. Her magic was going haywire.

DJ remembered when his own core kept falling out of balance. Luna's words came back to him. _It's not about simply controlling the magic, it's about understanding that it's a part of you. You must not let it take over you and you must not put a leash on it._

"Ginny." George said, all humour gone. He'd never seen the twin look so serious. "Ginny, listen to my voice. I'm right here, you're absolutely safe –"

"You won't be." Ginny choked. DJ felt his heart skip a beat. The entire corridor seemed to grow warm. Ginny's hair seemed to glow, seconds away from bursting into flames.

"Gin! Gin, look, I'm here too!" DJ said, kneeling down and slapping his palms on the ground. "See, I'm here. Tell your magic that I'm your friend. It's just trying to protect you."

Hermione turned to him. She kept quiet knowing that too many voices can irritate Ginny's instincts. No matter how close they all were. When DJ had the panic attack, he could only cling on to one voice and that had been either Harry's or Aunt Rosalie. The others always confused him for some reason.

"Keep talking." George whispered. He kept quiet after that. DJ swallowed, hoping he knew what to say. "You're strong, Gin. That's amazing. But right now, you don't need to panic. We're keeping you sa –"

"I'll hurt you." Ginny's fists tightened around her calves. She sucked in a breath as though it was a physical problem.

DJ sat up. Her throat was closing up. Was that a result of the panic or the cause of it? Whatever it was her magic thought she was in danger. The same thing had happened to DJ twice and once for Harry.

But the thing was, with Harry it was the consequence of debilitating trauma. In DJ and Ginny's cases, it was because they hosted powerful cores. Elemental magic was nothing to be joked about. DJ's element of air had been coached at the Ministry a couple of times. Hermione, hosting earth, had done it once too and he guessed Ron, with water, had his own visits along with Ginny, who had fire.

The record was that all elements held similar concentration between the witches and wizards owing to the fact that they were nearly around the same age and knew each other – Elementals tended to band together, an old saying.

But DJ had to admit, if he had to choose the one core which had the greatest potential to be destructive, it would be fire. Ginny had admitted once that she'd nearly burned the Burrow down twice and had to be sent for repeated testing especially after their first year, when her magic had been tamped down and depleted because of Voldemort.

By third year, it had become stable and so had her temper. This was the first time in nearly two years that she was losing control. But it wasn't like they were doing anything dangerous. They were just fooling around, having breakfast.

"Ginny, we're all here. Ron, Hermione and me. We're absolutely balanced. Nothing is wrong. Come on, look at us."

George looked surprise by his choice of wording but DJ knew that it would work. Ginny didn't move for a few moments before she cracked her eyes open and lifted her head by an inch. Ron kneeled again. "We're right here, Gin. Not going anywhere."

Ginny's eyes traced his face and then she turned to DJ, watching him carefully, as though she was worried that his words were a lie. She looked at Hermione next, breathing hard, but slowing gradually.

Finally she looked at George and said, "Okay."

George's relief was felt by the group. Ron clapped a hand on DJ's shoulder.

* * *

When the others didn't reappear, Harry hoisted his bag up in a huff, ready to leave the Great Hall. He wasn't sure what had happe –

"Harry!" Someone called him and he stopped in his tracks to watch a short dark haired girl wave him down. He tried to place her face, but couldn't put a name to her. She wore a Gryffindor emblem on her loose tie and had a lanky gait to her. She had to be younger than Ginny.

"Yes...?" He said, wondering if he was supposed to know her name.

She stuck her hand out. "Hi, I'm Romilda Vane. You've probably seen me around or may be not, but anyway, my mum's a theorist and she said that your essay 'Magical Theory and Practice' was a very refreshing piece for her to read."

Harry was nearly taken off guard by her reference to his long forgotten award winning essay. Nearly. The last time he'd heard the name Romilda was when it was in association with 'love potion'.

"That's... very nice of her." He gripped his bag tightly, staring down at the tiny girl, inordinately afraid of her.

"Yeah. She wanted to send a gift of goodwill." Romilda held up a small box with bright green lettering 'Brazilian Chocolate Pudding'.

"She didn't have to do that."

"But she wanted to. It's a very special variety; you don't get something like this in Scotland." Romilda's eyes seemed to gleam. She was still holding out the box to him in front of the entire school. If he acted odd... well, after his meltdown, it wouldn't be anything new.

"I ... thank you, Romilda." Harry said, changing tactics. "I'll be sure to give a thank you note for you to pass along."

"Enjoy!" She chirped and turned around, practically skipping out of the Hall. Harry held the box in his hands.

If it really was a gift from her mum, it wasn't like he could say no...

What was he thinking?! Of course he could have! When had he ever been bothered by people...

Harry groaned and stomped out, stuffing the box in his bag. He'd just take it to Pomfrey for testing.

The crowd nearly engulfed him and he stepped aside to let the others escape the Hall. Seamus raised his chin at him and Harry nodded mouthing, 'See you.'

A cool breeze went through the quickly emptying corridor. Harry walked with a slow pace, frowning. Something was wrong. The other students laughed and jostled each other, half running to get to their classes, in the distance, he saw Seamus with Dean and Neville, following Parvati and Lavender to their Potions class. They took a corner and disappeared from sight.

The hallway was empty suddenly. The silence was heavy, pressing against him. Harry stopped walking, feeling his robes move gently with the breeze that felt even cooler. He wasn't alone.

Harry turned around, digging into his pocket for his wand. The hair on his arms stood up straight as though electrified. He couldn't see anyone else, but for no obvious reason, he was on his guard. Harry let out a breath and braced himself, feeling his skin turn to armour.

The window to his side seemed to move. Harry immediately faced it, ready for an attack. He took a few steps back, raising his wand and bring out his dagger. There was something in the glass pane. The window was closed, but as Harry moved, his reflection moved out of sight and something else was there.

A figure as large as a person, wrapped in wilting, dirt white bandages. Black dead hair peeked out from the temples of the mummy and her eyes were glowing green.

He let out a yell, stumbling backwards right into somebody.

"Harry!" A pair of hands caught his shoulders to steady him. Harry recognized the Headmaster's voice at once, turning to him with heaving pants.

"Did you see it!? The – Did you see her?!"

Dumbledore looked alarm. He watched where Harry was pointing. The window held the reflections of the both of them and nothing else.

"Who did you see?" He asked, facing the window completely. Harry stared in disbelief. It couldn't have been her... but that was who he had seen.

"That... she... you didn't see her?"

"There is no one there, Harry. I can verify that."

Dumbledore looked worried. Of course, anyone would be. Seeing things no one else could... not a good sign. Harry had a brief déjà vu of his second year, a picture of roses that had been, and shook his head.

"I must be seeing things. It was probably my reflection."

The professor raised his eyebrows from the weak lie. "Your reflection?"

"Yes...well, it was a very bizarre reflection. Looks just like me."

Dumbledore might be privy to the demigod situation, but no way would Harry say anything about camp. They had enough problems than having wizards poke into their business.

"Harry... I would like to schedule our next session tonight. I know it is short notice –"

"It isn't! That's fine, I'll be there."

"Good. Off to class, I dare say Professor Snape would not like it one bit."

Harry's spirits fell. Dumbledore clasped his hands in front of him and Harry wished him good morning. He turned and left for the dungeons. The window was nothing special. It had been in his head. Harry frowned. Why would he see the Oracle? What did she want from him?

It was fun watching Snape's expression when Harry told him that Dumbledore was reason for the tardiness. After half a minute of furious silence, he snapped at him to close the door and ordered the class to start on the week's potion.

Harry went to stand next to Neville, his Potions partner, when he caught the sight of a bright pink thing in the corner.

He nudged Neville, who nearly dropped his Griffin claw. "What's _she_ doing here?"

They looked up together at Umbridge who was busy writing something in her notepad. Then she straightened herself. Harry noticed that she had perched herself on a tall stool to overlook the class. The shelf of the Seventh years' project potions blocked her presence from the door, probably to give people a shock after they'd take their places.

"Professor... Snape, is it?"

Snape looked like he wanted to carve her. "Yes, Professor Umbridge. We met at yesterday. And today."

Crabbe, or it may have been Goyle, gave a grunt of a snort from the back of the class. It went unnoticed by the adults as the students started to light their cauldrons. They were brewing a Strengthening Potion, not that Harry needed it.

"And do you usually start class before your students have arrived?" Umbridge continued. Her voice sounded nasal though the accent was posh.

"My students are aware of the timetable, Professor Umbridge. Any lethargy on their part is entirely their responsibility."

Snape's eyes flitted over to Harry and then to the side. He was even more irritated than usual. Harry placed the required ingredients for the potion on the table, arranging them and then looking behind to ask Hermione for her mortar and pestle when he found himself staring at an empty desk.

Harry blinked. Where were Ron and Hermione?

He turned around to ask Neville but the boy shrugged. "They left with Ginny, remember?"

They weren't back yet? But what was so important that they had to stay with her? Was something wrong with Ginny?

Harry's fingers shook for a second before he took a deep breath. He'd find out after class. She'd be alright, her brothers were with her, DJ and Hermione too.

Umbridge and Snape's interaction were short and missile fuelled. She didn't seem to realise how close Snape was in gutting her and using her as potion ingredients. They finished the double hour by keeping their half made potion on a suspension charm. They received their assignment of the week and by the time the bell finally rang, Snape's temper had made them all, including the Slytherins, flee the room.

"She has a death wish." Lavender said, shaking her head. The fifth years watched Umbridge walk out, her nose held high, an ugly smirk on her face.

"You're telling me." Daphne Greengrass muttered. The Gryffindors jumped. Daphne, Malfoy and Blasie Zabini were standing right next to them.

"What d'you want?" Harry asked, his voice harsh.

Daphne looked less than impressed. "Just making conversation." She left them, walking away like she'd done her job. Zabini gave Harry an unpleasant frown and Malfoy barely looked at them as they followed her.

"That was rude, Harry." Parvati scolded him.

He shrugged. He had no idea what they were up to. But one thing was for sure. They were always up to something.

* * *

 _Tom, the orphanage, his prizes..._

Fawkes was singing. It was a harmonious tone that was low and bordering on remorse. Harry, Dumbledore and the portraits of the previous headmasters listened carefully. The notes dipped and then went high, settling their nerves. Harry relaxed into his chair. It was nearly ten in the night and the day hadn't been as nightmarish as he'd feared. The Oracle sighting had scared the stuffing out of him, but that had been the worst of it.

Dumbledore and he had just watched another set of Tom's young life. Age had done nothing for his personality, except making his more cruel and destructive. Even as an eleven year old, he gave Harry the chills.

Fawkes finished his piece to applause and Harry joined. The phoenix didn't say anything and it made Harry wonder if it/he did speak. Bolt could, he'd assumed all familiars could speak, given that they couldn't be classified as regular beasts or animals.

"I have but one thing to tell you, Harry." Dumbledore intoned, his human voice sounding odd after the breathtaking music. "Keep in mind the most important facts of this memory."

Harry thought back. "The way he could use magic before he knew what he was."

"No. His collection. He kept trophies from his successes."

He grimaced. "His spoils of war?"

"Those were what he treasured the most. His discovery of his innate abilities gave him power over the other children. The proof is what he took from them. Now, our next session will be in the coming week. By then, I hope to obtain an Occlumency teacher for you. I will inform you of the developments."

Dumbledore gave him a nod and Harry was surprised with the sudden dismissal. He was sure that they had to talk more about it.

"Sir, just out of curiosity, did you hear from Remus? Or Hagrid? Because if the Ord –"

"Harry." Dumbledore's expression was so firm that he stopped talking. "I would quite like to answer those questions but they will be saved for the next session. Fawkes will let you out."

The bird flew to the desk between them. Harry was about to argue but there was a knock on the door.

It was a smart and sharp rap that startled him. By the look on the headmaster's face, he was sure that it wasn't anyone to be trusted with Order secrets. He nodded and let Fawkes sit on his shoulder.

The chair vanished along with the entire room. His vision was flooded by red light, shaped in flamed but it wasn't uncomfortable just dizzy. The ground hit his feet and he bent his knees, stumbling into the Gryffindor common room.

Hermione and Ron jumped at his abrupt arrival. Harry grabbed the end of the sofa, glad that there was no one else –

A bunch of second years were staring at him from their spot around the fire place. Figures.

He cleared his throat, ran a hand through his hair and tried to avoid the wide eyed stares. With a quick move, he sat beside Hermione and said, "So, we didn't get to talk much today. How was your day?"

Ron was first to react. "Did you floo?"

Hermione blinked. "Of course, that wasn't the floo. Fawkes dropped you off, didn't he?"

"Someone interrupted. Dumbledore didn't expect them so... yes, can we help you with anything?" Harry fixed the younger kids with a look of steel. They scrambled to turn back to the fire as though it was much more interesting.

Hermione glared at him, "You're getting to be as bad as Ron."

"Yeah, forget that. Do you know how to check for a love potion?"

"Love potion?"

Ron leaned around Hermione. "Don't tell me...!"

"I'll show you." Harry interjected, pulling the box of chocolates Romilda had given him. He'd been lugging it around the castle the entire day.

"Is that real Brazili –?!" Ron began, but Hermione cut him off. "Wait! Harry, how did you get this?"

"Romilda Vane gave it to me." Harry whispered when he noticed the kids trying to take a peek.

Hermione gasped. "But that's illegal!"

"Actually, it isn't." Ron said, taking the box. "I'm just looking, relax, 'Mione. But, yeah, they screen our post, you know. Today's post was late because they implemented a new process. We got it during lunch, remember?"

"That's why..." Hermione's exclamation dissolved.

"That's why what?" Harry asked. "Say, where did you disappear off to in the morning? You weren't there for Potions. And Charms."

Ron sat back, hiding behind Hermione. Harry wasn't sure if this was intentional, because she was too slight to cover Ron's tall build.

"We had a Ministry Official visit us. DJ, Ginny and we had a ... thing... Dumbledore was there as well." She muttered.

Harry sat facing them. He wasn't sure why, but there was something familiar about this.

"What happened?"

"Nothing happened. DJ sorted it out."

"What did DJ have to sort out? Why didn't he tell me? Is he in trouble?" He made to get up, intent on barging into the fourth year boys' dorm and interrogate DJ, but Hermione caught his arm and pulled him down.

"Harry, listen! It's... you know the myths about Elementals."

Elementals were witches and wizards who hosted pure elements as their magical cores. Like Hermione and Ron... and DJ... and Ginny...

"Myths?"

Ron was sniffing the chocolate pudding. Hermione reached back and shut the box, nearly slapping him on his nose.

"It's a little disconcerting, but not too problematic as of now."

"Just tell me –"

"There's a legend that when a high number of elementals are born, it means there's a war coming." Ron said, rubbing his nose.

Harry couldn't find his voice for a moment. War? A wizarding war? Like what had happened with Voldemort the first time around, was that going to happen again?

Or did they mean something more massive, more godly or titanic?

"Elementals tend to band together." Hermione said.

Harry nodded, having heard that one. "They come together to fight in the war. It's like their presence alerts everyone that chaotic times are ahead."

Hermione scowled. "It sounds superstitious like what Trelawney would make up but –"

"But we **are** heading for a war." Ron finished, handing the box over to Harry.

Harry stared at the shiny print of the box. "What did the ministry official tell you?"

"Dennis Belstone." Hermione muttered. "He said that they'll send letters to our guardians to improve security status. They want to put us on protection detail."

Harry frowned. "Like a bodyguard?"

Ron sighed. "No offense Harry, but you've been voted down the list. Elementals have least percentage of life expectancy in a war."

* * *

 _Manhattan, 5:30 p.m.  
_

 _All packed?_ Tom asked.

Percy looked at the bag which contained a single set of clothes, a pack of ambrosia squares, some cash, a few pebbles, one kiwi fruit and a bottle of water. He zipped it close and slung it over his shoulder. Without a backwards glance (he knew Nico and Sally were heating up leftovers) he climbed onto the fire escape outside his room.

 _Chin up, Percy. The sooner we're done with this, the sooner we part ways._ Tom was grinning. Percy made his way to Central Park in silence. He thought about the post it he left on the headboard of his bed.

 **Quick quest, will be gone for a couple of days.  
Love you,  
Percy.**

Months ago, he remembered promising his mother that he'd always try to warn her in person before he had to leave. Back then, he hadn't counted on Tom ruining his life.

 _I'm not ruining your life, Percy. Just because you're an Olympian demigod, doesn't mean you should be so dramatic._

And now he had an all access pass into his mind. Things weren't exactly looking up.

 _Patience._

Percy huffed. When they reached the park, he headed straight for Bathesda fountain, a large spot in an even larger clearing. There were at least a hundred people milling about. Tom looked at the statue of the angel before turning to Percy who took a deep breath as he stepped into the water. He needed a large body of water for this. No way could they get to the ocean in short time and a pool wouldn't be helpful either. Percy didn't even want to try the rivers. He just knew that would be the quickest way for his father to realise what was happening.

May be it would be better for Poseidon –

Tom's sharp glare froze Percy. His eyes seemed red.

Percy looked back at the water, standing in it. His ankles felt cool and the muscles in his tense body tried to relax.

A fresh water source was the second best way to go, he thought.

Tom seemed to be satisfied by that. He held out his hand. _Ready?_

"How much muscle do you need?" Percy asked out loud, not bothering to hide. The mist would cover them in a minute.

 _As much as you can share. We're travelling quite far._ Tom's fingers found his and his grip was tight. Percy sucked in a breath as he felt the harsh spread of magic pulling at his gut. It was unpleasant. Tom's eyes went a stark red and suddenly, Percy was pulled into a black hole.

His body was crushed from all sides, like something was forcing him into a narrow tube. Tom's hand was the only solid thing in the world. Percy couldn't even scream.

The pressure vanished in the next second. The weightlessness left him dizzy with gratitude and Percy closed his eyes falling backwards. Someone caught him and lowered him gently to the cold earth. The mud was stiff under his fingers. The air was smoky and unfriendly. Wherever they were, it was a bad place to be.

Percy opened his eyes and saw a large stretch of stiff, nearly frozen land all around them. The clouds were a dreary grey, scattered in the inky skin of the sky. There was no moon or stars. The biting cold wind howled and Percy wrapped his arms around his chest, shuddering. Tom was standing, looking at a large and tall building in the distance.

"Whe – re – a – are w – we?" Percy stammered. It was too cold to be summer. It was like they were in the wrong timeline.

 _Nurmengard Island._ Tom muttered, not taking his eyes of the desolate looking tower. It looked like the worst place in the world. Who would want to live there?

 _It's a prison._ Tom explained. _We're in Germany. The coast's quite close, I'm sure you can feel it._

Freakin' Germany.

"Why?" Percy yelled, glaring up at him.

Tom exhaled. _I told you. Voldemort, i. e., me, was reported to be in Germany. If I know myself, then it's obvious that he would come here. Nurmengard holds someone of interest._

You didn't say Germany, Percy thought.

 _Hmm, whatever the case. We're here now. Time to put my little theory to test._ Tom smirked at him. _We're going to break into the prison. If we get lucky, we'll meet my older self._

* * *

 **Jeez, these weeks are packed! I'm afraid updates will be a little irregular for a while. I'll try to put the next one up. Tom meets Voldemort, stay tuned!**

 **Q: Has Percy ever gotten possessed in canon?**

 **Cabba.**


	20. You, Yourself and I

**A: Eidolons, sent by Gaia, took possession of Percy, Jason and Leo. Piper, underappreciated bamf that she is, drove them away. Sherlock Harry Winchester, Catie Cat win this round.**

 **ShadeofDeath746 – Thanks! Some of your queries will be answered here.  
Guests – WOW, thanks so much, I love such enthusiastic feedback. This chapter's early just for you guys! **

**Warning – Harry swears a bit.**

 **Listening to – A Rose for Epona by ELUVEITIE**

* * *

 _Monday, 1_ _st_ _Oct.  
Hogwarts – 10:30 p.m._

Harry couldn't sleep. Not that it was anything new, but there was a particular conundrum taking over his every thought.

A war was coming. Obviously, Hermione and Ron thought that it was the one involving Voldemort. Harry would have believed that as well, but the sight of the Oracle in all her mummy glory had been a bit unnerving. He hadn't told them about it. It was rather hypocritical of him especially after he'd convinced his friends to spill everything that happened in the Hospital Wing.

Apparently, Ginny had a minor attack but was placated by DJ successfully. They'd gone to Madam Pomfrey for a calming draught but the matron had shock when she diagnosed Ginny's vitals as 'under extreme stress'. She had then called McGonagall and Dumbledore who promptly informed the Department of Child Welfare and Development about the problem. They'd sent an official to be briefed on the situation. Dennis Belstone was Zachariah Belstone's father.

Hermione had explained how it was not uncommon for Core magic to sometimes fluctuate. It was dangerous in Ginny's case since she had such a powerful potential. Letters were sent home to improve on the seriousness of the situation. Belstone had ignored the myth of Elementals and war predictions. Everyone knew that troubled times were ahead. He'd been succinct in his response.

Ginny, DJ, Hermione and Ron would be given customized portkeys they could activate any time they felt they could lose control. Ron had shown the little pendant on a string, a little black crystal that looked sharp enough to cut skin. If they had any indication of lashing out, they were supposed to tug on the pendant, pressing the joint with their thumb and forefinger.

Harry was glad for the precaution. Dumbledore had seen to it that Kingsley had overseen the process to set up safe locations for the students to get to and wind down without hurting others or themselves too much. So they were safe for the time being.

He'd wished DJ had told him this. No matter, the next morning, they would have a proper conversation over breakfast.

If only he could sleep…

Harry turned onto his back, but that was more uncomfortable. His best relaxing position was on his stomach with his hand under his pillow. But it wasn't helping. He kept going back to the sight of the Oracle.

Why did he see her? Was that real? Was she actually there? What did she want with him?

The last time he'd seen her, she had grabbed his arm hard enough to bruise him and had glowed her eyes at him. It was unholy and terrifying.

 _Where is she?_ That was the question she'd asked. She hadn't explained who was the 'she' in the question. Just three words.

The demigods and even Chiron had been surprised by her actions. The Oracle wasn't known for asking questions. Why would start then, with a wizard, not a hero?

It wasn't even a declaration of a quest or a prophecy that Harry had to go and search for someone. Just a straight forward query as though he was supposed to have known the answer. Where is she? Who?

"Alright, Harry." He spoke out loud. The others in his dorm were asleep as evidenced by their snores. "If you were the Oracle, what would you want?"

A better living space. That attic was a storage space for broken items. It did have an unbroken piano, though; an anomaly. But the Oracle didn't really care where she was did she? An attic, a palace, it wouldn't make much of a difference for her. She was dead. She did nothing but give prophecies when demigods were charged with quests.

Harry opened his eyes. The body was dead, not the Oracle. She was a spirit inhabiting a mummified corpse…which was not what was supposed to happen.

"I'd want to inhabit a live person." He whispered to himself. The Spirit of Delphi had always worked through the host of a mortal girl. Harry had heard of Apollo's priestesses who would take on the oath and would burden the weight of _knowing._

She was searching for a living embodiment, then. But why ask Harry? It's not like he knew any candidates for the post. A mortal girl who was clear sighted, probably had a knack for seeing through things faster than demigods and …

Shit.

Damn. Shit. Crap. Fuck.

No, no. Harry leaped from the bed, grabbing a bed post to lean on. Not her, Merlin. She wasn't supposed to be involved. She was supposed to have an absolutely normal, safe, and happy life. Rachel had the good fortune of being born a squib. She had the choice to move away from all the problems of the Wizarding world. If, Morgana forbid, she became the Oracle, she'd be in an even more dangerous position.

The whole point of not involving her, of not telling anyone, not even Ron and Hermione about Rachel was to keep her alive and not make her a target.

May be Harry was overreacting. If the Spirit truly wanted Rachel to host her, then why wouldn't she have contacted her directly? In fact, Rachel would have less trouble in figuring out what was necessary. She was smart enough to realize that her Sight was gifted in a volume greater than the average clear sighted mortal. Rachel had magic in her blood, but not enough to qualify her as a witch.

Lily Evans had had Seer like powers. Sirius had said how she'd have gut feelings that were frighteningly accurate, sometimes even visions that were at first taken to be day dreams. Maybe Rachel inherited it from her. May be she was better at it that Lily. May be her potential to See and Know was so much more than what anybody could fathom.

Harry exhaled, his shoulders feeling heavy. This was not good. He needed to find out more about this. He…

Harry dug into the drawer of his nightstand. It would be a bright evening in New York, he just hoped Rachel was close by.

Pulling out a two way mirror, Harry left the room and stood outside, closing the door. The light of the barely there moon, obscured by multiple rainless clouds, was too dim, so his raised his wand and said, "Lumos."

The circular staircase lit up and Harry held up the mirror to say, "Rachel Dare."

Immediately, loud music assaulted him. Harry cringed, hoping it wouldn't carry up to the dorms.

"Rachel!" He called out. He didn't recognize the song being played in her room. All he could see was her large red bean bag when Bolt leaped up on it to look up at him. She was in her tiger form, large and commanding. She nodded and yelled, "Rachel! Turn it off!"

A few seconds later, the music was cut and Rachel's hand came in view, picking up her mirror to peer into him. There was a streak of blue on her forehead, touching her hair as well.

"Harry! Wait, isn't it like midnight over there?"

"No. It was a long day today though. Anyway, my sleep curfew isn't until 12."

Rachel sat on her bed, letting Bolt come into view. "I remember. So you were doing something productive like finishing your homework, like a good boy?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "You know me so well, Rach."

She laughed. Harry found himself smiling. "So what are you up to?"

"Jamming to a new song. Putting the finishing touches on Bolt's portrait. Wait here!"

She placed the mirror on her study desk and rushed off to the side. Harry leaned against the cold wall and held the mirror up to better light.

Rachel pushed a large canvas into frame. It was a stunning painting of a tiger. He recognized Bolt. Her golden eyes, sharp growl, gold and black stripes along her fur, in a crouching position, about to lunge out of the frame and at the spectator. She was terrifying. It was beautiful. The background behind her was a myriad of blues and reds. The entire effect was brilliant.

"That's amazing, Rachel. Bolt actually looks threatening!"

"I will take that as a compliment." Bolt huffed. Rachel giggled.

"Thanks! This is going into the art room!"

She was perfectly happy with her life. Who was Harry to go and disrupt it by telling her that Delphi's spirit was possibly searching for her?

"So, any specific reason why you called? You bored?" She jumped back onto the bed, letting Bolt climb over her to sit on her lap. Harry winced. He knew she was harmless, but it was an unsettling picture of watching a tiger sit on somebody. Rachel didn't seem to mind. She didn't mind about strange magical things too much.

"Oh nothing really… Yeah, I was sort of bored…"

* * *

 _Tuesday, 2_ _st_ _Oct.  
Germany – 00:00 a.m._

"We're-not-breaking-into-anything." Percy said. His teeth were clicking from the cold. He had to force out each word slowly, putting pressure on his jaw.

Tom was already walking towards the large structure. The tower was pitch black and made of old stone. It looked indestructible and dead. Percy's legs were shivering. The cold didn't seem to affect Tom. It looked like the wind went right through him. His hair moved, blowing softly, not as though they were in a gale. Which they definitely were. If this was summer in Germany, Percy couldn't understand how people lived here.

He nearly walked into Tom who stopped moving. Percy stepped back, watching Tom stare to their right.

 _We may not have to._ Tom said slowly. Percy tried to see what had caught his eye. But the landscape was too dark to see anything.

 _They won't be able to see me. Do exactly as I say._

Percy stayed where he was. The wind roared around them and he saw two silhouettes emerge from the blackness. Two men it seemed like. They were advancing with measured steps. Percy's senses were suddenly heightened and he could feel the gaze of someone else from behind him. Whoever they were had him surrounded.

A haze covered his sight for a second. Then the cold fell away and Percy stood up straight, staring them down. He could feel Tom within the locket, willing him to do what was necessary.

He waited until the two men were close enough that he could see their silver masks, the only thing that was properly visible even with the dull light.

Nobody said anything for a second. Then Tom whispered words into Percy's ear.

"I want an audience with the Dark Lord." Percy said in a flat tone.

The men, who were obviously wizards, Death Eaters no less, looked him up and down. Someone from behind Percy grunted. It was a rough and humourless sound, animalistic. Percy heard this person take a deep breath like he was sniffing him.

"And why do you smell so _delicious_?" The voice was raspy, practically a growl. Percy held in the urge to take out Riptide and strike him down.

 _Do you truly want to kill him?_ Tom asked. He sounded amused.

"Keep talking and I'll hurt you." Percy said, not even bothering to glance at him.

The third man chuckled.

"Who are you?" One of the men in front of him asked.

"Your Lord is the only one who will find out." Percy said, repeating Tom's words. "Take me to him now."

 _Don't worry, they will not recognize you unless I allow it_. Tom assured him. _Glamour spells are so useful._

"Why should we?" The man asked. There was a condescending tone to his words.

Suddenly, there was a long sharp finger nail, touching the side of his cheek. There was a stale, filthy stench of breath right by his ear.

 _Werewolf._ Tom said. _It's not a full moon, but don't let him scratch or bite you._

Percy snatched Riptide out of pocket and clicked it. He turned and kicked the werewolf's face hard enough for the man to stumble back. He was stronger than a mortal, obviously. Percy poised the tip of his sword at his throat.

 _Behind you!_

A red jet of light flew at him and Percy ducked in time. The werewolf also swerved to avoid it.

"I know you! You're with Potter!" One of the men yelled. He was staring at Riptide and though Percy couldn't see his expression, he guessed there would be a look of familiarity. He must have been with Voldemort at the third Triwizard task. They had all seen Percy's face clearly, remembered his sword swinging heroics, so to speak.

The werewolf let out a snarl and lunged for Percy. He tucked and rolled on the ground, avoiding a collision but coming in the path of another red beam of light.

Percy raised Riptide, letting the blade ricochet the spell back to the wizard, closest to him. Then he grabbed the unconscious man and held him as a shield against the other wizards who stopped in their tracks.

The sword was close to the man's neck. Celestial bronze hurt wizards just as it did demigods.

"You're daft if you think I'm with Potter." Percy said, losing his New York accent.

"I recognize that sword. I was with the Dark Lord after his resurrection." The man snapped.

 _Idiot._ Tom muttered.

"Many people carry swords."

"No, this one's exactly like –"

"He's not human." The werewolf said. Percy now got a better look at him. He was tall, with large hulking mass, holding his arms out like he had claws. He seemed nothing like Remus who was honestly one of the nicest people Percy knew.

"I'm not leaving until I talk to him." Percy said, letting Tom talk through him. "I know Lord Voldemort has business with Grindelwald, how do you think I got here?"

The wizards froze. They clearly hadn't been expecting that.

"Or shall I just interrupt his little conversation with the prisoner in the tower?"

"Fine!" The first man spat. "Your funeral."

Percy flashed them a grin and pushed the unconscious man from him, letting him fall to the ground. He swung Riptide, almost playfully, eyeing the werewolf. "Lead the way."

The men were grumbling but turned and started to walk from where they came. One of them stayed behind to revive their fellow Death Eater. The party walked for ten minutes before reaching a grove of tall trees that slowed the wind for them. Percy looked around, taking note of his surroundings. He could feel the sea at the edge of his consciousness, about twelve miles to the North East. It was too far for him to summon any water directly. If worse comes to worse, he'd have to depend on undergrou –

 _No._

Percy frowned. They kept walking till three more men intercepted them. There was a green light illuminating the forest interior. Percy could see the newcomers in their silver masks and black robes, protecting them from sight and the cold.

"Wait here." The first man said and went to talk to them. The werewolf was standing just outside Percy's line of sight. No matter, he had taken down far more lethal creatures in surprise attacks.

The Death Eaters were arguing in whispers. The gist of it was who the hell Percy could be if he wasn't Percy Jackson.

 _They know you._ Tom muttered. _Harry was right after all._

Percy gritted his teeth. The second man finally yelled, "Fine! You can announce him. I'm having nothing to do with this!"

They had to wait for a few more minutes before someone else approached them. This person jerked his head ahead. "Go on."

Percy walked forwards, stepping into a clearing that had been masked before. There were two dozen Death Eaters lingering silently at the periphery.

A tall man stood in the centre. He didn't look human. Percy remembered the fiendish red eyes, snakelike nostrils. Voldemort was clad in black robes, caressing his long white bone wand. Behind him, a large snake, an anaconda Percy guessed, slithered around.

 _Nagini_ , Tom thought. For the first time, Percy heard a touch of longing in his voice.

Voldemort tilted his head and sneered. A gust of sharp wind hit Percy's face. Tom tightened his control and the glamour charm remained intact. Percy blinked, feeling both spells war over his skin before the first one dissipated.

"Tell your Death Eaters to leave." Percy said when Tom had won.

Voldemort glared. "Who are you to give orders?"

His red eyes were a permanent set of burning coals. It was wrong. It shouldn't be like that.

 _Ready, Percy?_

That was his only warning, before he felt the locket on his chest burn. Percy bit the side of his cheek, holding in a gasp. Something was being taken from his. He felt his lungs heave in protest as the very air was sucked out.

Everyone stepped back as Tom materialised in front of Percy in his black suit, black hair and blue eyes that looked dark enough for the role. Voldemort's form went stiff. Nagini hissed in agitation.

Tom smirked at him. "You should learn to keep your trophies safe."

There was a terrible second of silence following which the Death Eaters started to get twitchy. Percy knew why. Heir master had a look of shock which was quickly being overtaken by absolute fury.

"OUT!" Voldemort screamed. All the Death Eaters scrambled to get out of the clearing lest he started firing curses. The mad man marched forwards pointing a wand at Tom.

"What are you going to do? Destroy me? You'll only hurt yourself." Tom snapped. Percy stepped back, feeling weak kneed. He needed to sit, may be lie down and sleep for a hundred years.

"How..." Voldemort's voice shook with anger.

Tom reached a hand back to touch Percy's chest. He pulled the locket into view, letting the snake faced man see it.

"Guess who took it from the cave." Tom said. He was no longer smiling.

Voldemort looked too enraged to say anything.

"Regulus Black and his little house elf, Kreacher. You remember them? You remember how you took that elf thinking it was foolproof? Well, it wasn't. You were a fool and I am the proof."

"Silence!" Voldemort hissed. "If you are my –

"More than you think." Tom stepped forwards. "I'm more human than you, _Lord Voldemort_. Don't you forget that. Either you treat me as an equal, or you will barely live to regret it."

Nagini hissed at them. For a second Percy thought he'd lost it. He understood the words perfectly.

 _Patience_ , she'd said.

Voldemort stood up straight, trying to reign in his anger. His snake's words made him regain control. He turned to look at Percy. "And what is he?"

"A little hybrid I picked up. Jack, say hi." Tom said teasingly.

Percy raised his head. "'Sup?"

Voldemort wasn't pleased. "Are you sure it's not Perseus Jackson?"

Tom huffed. "Urgh. If you think I'll take someone that close to Potter, you don't know yourself."

The wind howled outside the forest. The silence inside was more terrible. Riptide felt heavy in Percy's hand. He didn't know how much longer he could stay awake.

Voldemort's scowl was prominent. "Do you think you can lie to _me_?"

Tom didn't back down. "I think it is worthless lying to you. I expect the both of us to be on the same side, if not the same person."

Their standoff was the strangest thing Percy had ever witnessed. He had seen gods and monsters and titans and Clarisse, but this...? It was a whole different level. His worst fear was that Voldemort would know that he was Percy. It seemed like he already did, though. Tom had warned him to not maintain eye contact for too long. Legilimency was a nasty pass time of Voldemort's.

"Are you aware of what happened to the diary?" Voldemort said. One of his eyes was twitching.

Percy hadn't heard the entire story about the diary. All Harry had said was that in his second year, there had been an incident involving a diary and a basilisk...

Tom's face was sour. "Yes. Sixteen was a year of conceit, if you remember."

"I remember eighteen not being that far off."

Percy saw Tom inhale from the accusation. "I have not alerted _anyone_ of my presence. Nobody knows. The Order is blind to me."

Voldemort stepped away, now holding the upper hand in the conversation. "What are your limitations?"

"Power source."

Tom sent a side eyed glance to Percy, who stood up, back straight despite the weakness in his limbs. Percy didn't know what Voldemort saw him as, but it couldn't be anything useful. On the other hand, Tom had promised to let him go. Or had that been a lie?

Voldemort's eyes darted to Percy, fixing him to his spot. It felt like he couldn't move. Remembering what he was told, he shut his eyes immediately, hoping he hadn't seen anything that could lead him to the Order.

"I was informed that you had plans to break into Nurmengard." He said slowly.

Tom frowned but kept quiet.

Voldemort turned to face him directly. "What was your strategy?"

"I had planned to bypass the wards."

It seemed like the wrong thing to say. Voldemort let a smile touch his thin colourless lips. It stretched his skin making him look more grotesque.

"And I suppose you could employ the same technique to any heavily guarded institution?"

Tom didn't give any outward indicator that he was angry. But Percy felt the locket thud in erratic beats against his chest. The tension rose in invisible but palpable waves.

"That depends... what do you have in mind?"

Voldemort gestured to the trees. "The best of my supporters... the most loyal of them languish in Azkaban. If you can successfully free them, I will doubt you no more."

Percy held his breath. Tom's wrath was boiling in the locket. He couldn't take it. With a low gasp, his knees hit the ground, chest heaving like he was about to puke.

Tom looked back at him. "Do you have a list?"

"Oh... just prisoners from cell level 29 to 47. The most important one is in level 34."

Percy shuddered from the pain. He was going to throw up. Any moment. The rule of vomiting was that you should never hold it back, lest you choke. If it comes, let it.

"Done. Let's go, Jack." Percy felt a hand grab his shoulder and experienced the same crushing pressure as before. His extremities were squeezed and then pulled, fiery pain hit him when they landed on the ground again.

Tom kicked at the mud. Percy doubled over and threw up in the grass. Wherever they were now, there was no wind. He was so busy in emptying his stomach that it was a while before he realised that Tom was screaming.

Percy sat on his heels, wiping his mouth and feeling hot and cold at the same time. Tom let out a growl and grabbed him by the collar of his jacket. Percy stiffened. "Wai –"

But they'd apparated again. And then another two times till he was sure that no one could follow them.

Their surroundings were considerably lighter. The Sun's first rays hit the clouds in the distance and Percy saw that they were in a ploughed field. It was a place where farmers should have been up and working, but the area was desolate. Tom let out a shriek and threw his hands in front of him, aiming at the ground. A minor explosion took place. Percy scrambled back when smoke and fire rose from the spot. There was crater, courtesy of Tom Riddle.

He wasn't done yet. Percy waited silently as Tom went about releasing his frustration on the surroundings. Percy hoped that the land didn't belong to someone who was entirely dependent on it.

When he was done, Tom stomped back to Percy, eyes glowing a red hue that was so sharp it was absolute crimson. The latter had been sick again.

"He thinks... how dare he... I'd assumed..." Tom's mutterings were seriously alarming now.

"Did you expect him to trust you at once?" Percy asked, coughing slightly.

"Of course, not. I didn't expect anything like that! If it had been me, I would never even let me escape." Tom raged, directing another spell at the earth.

"But he let you leave –"

"He intends to use me!" Tom hissed. There was manic energy around his body. His skin seemed to emanate a faint red and black light which danced over his entire form in unstable motions.

"He thinks I'm his to toy! He thinks I'm one of his little Death Eaters!"

Percy recognized the look of madness mixed in with incredible rage. It was a terrible thing to witness. Tom was out of control.

"If he thinks... I will..."

"You can surprise him." Percy found himself saying. Tom's head whipped towards him so fast it should have snapped but it didn't.

"Of course I will surprise him. I'll give him a shock. I'll go to Azkaban and kill everyone single one of his Death Eaters! I'll make people fear _me_!" Tom was screaming to the purple skies.

Percy doubted killing Death Eaters would scare the civilians. It might startle them, but make them fear him...?

Harry had always said Voldemort was mad. A psychopath.

"I went there to thwart his plans of finding me. The piece of me in the diary took matters into his own hands and was killed by his own basilisk! If the _Dark Lord_ knew I was out there, he'd find me and dispose of me, or lock me up again. I AM NOT GOING BACK TO INTO A CELLAR FOR ANOTHER FIFTY YEARS!"

Percy moved away as fast as he could to avoid being in his line of attack. Tom grabbed his hair as though he was ready to rip the roots out.

"Then let's kill the Death Eaters!" Percy yelled.

Tom took a great rattling breath like he needed the air. As though he were real again. His head was bowed into his hands, body shaking from the display of fury.

He raised his head, eyes fixed in the distance. They were still red. "That would drive the point home."

"Definitely."

"Except Voldemort would never risk anything like this."

Percy waited. Tom was still staring.

"Azkaban has more than a hundred levels. The cells with highest security are at the top. If he thinks I would believe his minions to be in floors below eighty, then he really doesn't know himself at all."

His voice was low and soft. Too calm for comfort. Percy clenched his fists to settle down.

"Azkaban is a distraction for me. He intends to do something else. If I were him, I would go check on the other hor – "

He caught himself and shook his head. "Have an ambrosia square."

"Now?"

"Yes, now. You'll need your strength. I did promise to break into something, and it will be the last place Voldemort would think to go."

Percy slowly slipped his bag off his shoulders, digging for the med pouch. He heard Tom laugh. The next words made his blood go cold.

"It's been a long time since I've seen Hogwarts."

He stared, mouth gaping. "No! Tom, you can't!"

"I can't?" Tom's voice was colder than the earth. "I can't go?" He towered over Percy, fists clenched. Percy nearly crushed the pouch of ambrosia.

"I meant... we can't go there, because it's physically impossible. Sirius said there were all kinds if security –"

Tom scoffed. He kneeled down and placed a hand on the back of Percy's neck. The hold was punishing.

"Tell me something. Where is the London safe house?"

"In... London?"

"Percy..."

"You know where it is!"

They stared at each other. Percy felt a little bolder and popped in an ambrosia square. He felt the warmth of chocolate cookies spread from his taste buds through his body. It was incredible and his energy returned in another minute.

"Did you see the house? When you and the others stood outside, reading the address, did you see the house?"

Tom's question was weird. Percy screwed up his face. "Yeah. So?"

"You saw the safe house before you read the address?"

"Yeah. What're you getting at?"

Tom's face showcased a blinding smile. It was like he'd forgiven Percy for his transgressions.

"I like that answer. It's an excellent one. Hold on."

The grip on his neck tightened and Percy let out a gasp as they apparated once again. The cool landscape of the farm disappeared and they landed in a dark place, nearly as cold as Germany. There was no wind, thank the gods. But Percy stared at the horizon in horror.

The castle of Hogwarts loomed over in the distance, asleep and quiet. They'd landed somewhere outside the village near the school, just a space shy of the forest edge.

Tom stood up, rotating his arm. "Multiple jumps are not my favourite."

Percy couldn't speak. He didn't want Tom anywhere near Hogwarts. The first thing he might do was to find Harry –

"Relax. We're going into the castle." Tom muttered, walking towards the forest. He stopped at a point, staring at a particular spot like he could see something that Percy couldn't.

"We're not going in there? Promise?" Percy asked, standing shakily. The urge to vomit had come back but there was nothing in his stomach now.

Tom raised his hands. "Have I ever lied to you?"

Percy hated it when he avoided the question and twisted his answer.

"The diary was the first. The locket is the second." Tom said, turning back towards Percy. "There are other things of value."

"Other things that is like a part of you? Of Voldemort?"

Tom tilted his head in contemplation. "A part of me, yes. It's old magic. One can separate themselves into portions. Basically, you can't kill me."

"Unless all pieces of you are destroyed." Percy said.

Tom's eyes burned a bright red. He stared at Percy. "Yes. I'm confident that one of those pieces of me will be in the castle."

"Why?"

"Hogwarts was my home. My first and possibly only home." He sounded vulnerable. The softness in his voice moved Percy. It was like what camp was for him, except Tom didn't have a mother. Percy home was with Sally and Nico and camp... and with Harry, DJ, Sirius and Remus...

Tom was alone.

"You wanna get it?" Percy asked, quietly.

"I would love to. Unfortunately..."

Tom raised his hand. A pebble flew from behind them towards the forest. Percy watched as it hit an invisible barrier had was bounced back, landing near his feet.

"I can't get in. You can though."

Percy clenched his jaw. "I'm not going in there. You said we wouldn't have to. Besides, we'd be found out immediately."

"Not if we're careful."

"Actually, I'm pretty sure that the castle can sense when someone bypasses the boundaries! Not to mention Dumbledore's magical detection spells and stuff and the map and Harry with his forest powers and –"

"Map? What map?"

Percy wanted to stab himself in the eye. "Just... nothing, it's just a map...

"What map?" Tom advanced till they were just a foot apart, facing each other. Percy turned away.

"It's nothing."

There was a moment of silence until Tom reached out and pressed a finger to his chest. It hit the locket which burned bright and hot. Percy yelped, crumbling to the ground, clawing at the metal. His chest was trying to cave in.

"Marauders' map." Tom muttered. He'd gotten inside his head during the pain.

Percy gasped when the heat receded. He took in a few gulps of breath, trying to calm down.

"It can tell you where anyone is? At any given time?"

"...yes." Don't say that.

"Impressive." Tom said, looking the least bothered of having hurt him. "It will be with Harry, I take it?"

"Or DJ." Stop talking.

"So they will know if either of us manage to get into the grounds?"

"Yes." Shut up, shut up.

"I want that map."

Tom turned his back on Percy and looked up at the castle. Percy could feel him smirk. With a raised hand, Tom closed his eyes.

In the Gryffindor Tower, the fourth year boys were all sound asleep. DJ trunk gave a shudder. It started to rattle, hitting the edge of the four poster and slamming down on the stone floor.

Colin was first to wake up. He blinked in the darkness, wondering what had roused him. The trunk slid to the wall and hit it with a resounding _thud_.

DJ jerked awake. The others started to shift and groan.

"Wha...?" DJ just said when the lid of the trunk flew open and all its contents exploded out. The room was filled with falling clothes, parchments, quills, books and even ink bottles. There was a crash followed by glass breaking. In the confusion, Colin got out and promptly ran into someone.

"Turn on the lights!" Someone yelled.

With a click, the room came into focus, illuminating the chaos. DJ groaned from the searing brightness. Colin had collided with Dave Timur. Bolin Williams and DJ were standing gingerly on top of the parchments, trying in vain to avoid stepping on them.

"What the hell!?" Dave exclaimed.

DJ groaned. "My stuff! What happened?"

There was a yell from outside the dorm. "DJ! Hey, open the door!"

Bolin stepped towards it, opening the door and letting Harry in, holding his wand and a mirror. "What happened?"

"My trunk detonated!"

Harry stared, "What?"

Outside, Percy had seen lights flicker on one of the dorm rooms. Apparently Tom had made the map fly right through the window and he could now see a pale file of sorts soaring towards them. It stopped short of a few feet from the wall and dropped to the ground.

"Get it." Tom said, shaking his arm as though it had been an exertion after all the apparating jumps.

Percy grumbled, "If you think I'm gonna –"

Tom pushed Percy, both hands pressed behind him, shoving him right through the ward. Percy cringed as he expected to get bounced back like the pebble had, but felt a soft whisper go over his body. He blinked.

He was standing inside school territory. Percy gaped. Luna was right. He could go through shields. Even the best apparently the most heavily secure ones.

"Believe me now?" Tom asked, smirking so smugly that Percy felt sick.

"Get the map. We need to go before the authorities are alerted."

* * *

 **Getting interesting yet, for ya? Stay tuned everyone! We're going to have a Hogwarts break in soon (Spoiler alert: Tom lied.)**

 **Q: Did Ginny ever try to get rid of Tom – the diary?**

 **Cabba.**


	21. Compromise

**Anyone who hasn't seen the poll on my bio page, go check it out. Would love to see your guesses.**

 **I write down dates and timings when I shift from places, back and forth – especially when I write scenes happening simultaneously everywhere. It's to keep the progression clear and not confuse you or me.**

 **A: Ginny tried to flush the diary down the toilet (where it belongs), but Myrtle flooded the bathroom and Harry and Ron came across it. Sherlock Harry Winchester and ShadeofDeath746, you've done it again! Thanks for the encouragement, it's wonderful to read your reviews.**

 **Listening to – Control by Halsey**

* * *

 _Monday, 1_ _st_ _Oct.  
Manhattan – 7:10 p.m._

Rachel grumbled when Harry cut the call. "Did you hear a shout? I think someone was yelling."

Bolt frowned. "Sounded like a disturbance."

She sighed and dropped the mirror on her pillow, falling backwards. Her mattress was soft enough that she merely sunk into it for a moment before coming to rest.

"I feel like I'm missing out on a lot." She told her familiar. Bolt gave a purr and placed her head beside Rachel's neck. Her weight was a pleasing distraction, currently not as heavy as a real full grown tiger. Rachel hugged her as she would a soft toy and closed her eyes.

"Is that a bad thing? You know how dangerous things are over there." Bolt pointed out.

"Hmm. Still, if I were a witch, I'd curse the bejesus out of all the Death Eaters and put Voldemort in prison. Then maybe Harry wouldn't need therapy."

Bolt laughed. "You're confident of that?"

"I would have been the best witch anyone's ever seen." Rachel confirmed. But then she felt her spirits deflate. "I wish were one."

They were quiet, lying down at seven in the evening. Rachel felt strangely disconnected from everyone. Except for Bolt.

"You don't mind that I'm a Squib, huh Bolt?"

She heard the fragility in the words. Even if they weren't that obvious, Bolt would know.

The tiger shifted her head. "Don't worry, Rach, whether you're a Squib, or a demigod or a witch or a monster, you would be good and I will still be your friend."

"A monster?... what sort of monster would I make?"

"A vampire, for sure."

"Awesome."

They giggled. Rachel rested her temple on Bolt's snout, running her fingers through her pelt. "I always thought I was different. But apparently, I'm more typical than any of them."

Bolt shrugged. "Who knows? May be one day, you'll find something that's perfect for you. It doesn't have to be magical or divine, it's just... you."

She hummed. That sounded lovely. But for the moment, Rachel felt like she was on the periphery of everything that was happening, everything important. All she could do was look inside and watch everyone cast spells or go on quests. It wasn't like she wanted her life to be in mortal peril, she just wanted to be included. When she was in Camp, she'd done her best to not just stand around and scream like a horror movie co-ed.

Well, monsters... Rachel had to scream. They were scary.

She had tried to help though. A shudder went through her. Bolt purred again, trying to calm her.

Sometimes, when she'd have nightmares, Rachel would wake up in the middle of the night and draw whatever she saw. It helped. It was like removing the horrible things she'd dreamt and putting them on paper. There was a feeling of distancing from the terror. She did that for years. Her storage was filled with sketches and paintings of absolutely horrid things, monsters, or gory scenes that no one, not even her parents, knew.

After the battle concerning the Labyrinth, she'd gone home, laid in the hot tub for a couple of hours, convinced the house staff that she'd been with friends looking for a puppy to adopt, and had then sat down to draw everything she'd seen. It took her days to finally set the pencils down and crawl into bed.

And then the thing in Rome happened. It wasn't as horrible, but she'd seen Percy get stabbed by an arrow, seen his mom kill somebody, nearly died herself...

Everything was in the storage room. All her secrets, all the truths. She didn't understand many of them and some she didn't even remember drawing, because she was that exhausted.

But the most troubling thing was one draft. A depiction of a boy. A beautiful boy, really. She'd drawn him years ago, before she'd even met Percy or Harry. The boy seemed regular and human, smiling, quite attractive, could pass easily for a model. He had soft black hair, neatly combed but still fluffed up. His dark tux jacket accented his shoulders and height while his jaw, which was probably his best feature, was so sharp and defined, twelve year old Rachel had blushed when she'd first outlined him.

It was supposed to be a normal outline for a painting. She'd drawn people before. She'd just been getting better adding details into her old works. This had been different though. She wasn't sure why at first. He was as human as anyone, quite gorgeous to boot.

But for some unknown reason, Rachel had painted his eyes red.

* * *

 _Tuesday, 2_ _nd_ _Oct.  
Hogwarts – 00:15 a.m._

The window was broken. That was the most unsettling part of the mystery.

"Best guess, the trunk was trying to sneeze." Ron said, shrugging. McGonagall had been frowning the entire time they'd tried to explain the situation to her.

"Can you tell what's missing?" She asked looking around the paper covered dorm room. Harry even spotted a bunch of scarves hanging from an alcove in the ceiling.

DJ threw his hands up. "I don't know. What's missing isn't here, so I won't know unless I check everything that is here and find out what's not."

"It had to be something important." Colin suggested. "Did you have gold?"

"Just the money pouch. It's still here."

DJ's broom was on his bed. His expensive custom made clothes were scattered all around the room. His wand was with him. He had his gold. What could be missing?

McGonagall gave a flick of her wand. Everything started to rearrange itself, coming together to congregate on DJ's four poster. Clothes were folded, the papers tucked, the parchments rolled and the books stacked. With some room to properly stand the inhabitants relaxed a bit.

"Is the lid broken?" Harry asked.

DJ lifted the lid of his trunk. The hinges had been shattered the entire piece seemed brittle.

"So, either, something flew out of your trunk and out the window, or somebody might have summoned it." Hermione explained.

"You're saying someone summoned something!" DJ yelled, frantic.

"Potter, simmer down. We'll get to the bottom of this. It's past midnight, the others will go back to sleep. I have alerted the Headmaster. They will check for any intruders if that may be the case."

"I need a new case." DJ mumbled.

"We can fix it for now." Hermione said. McGonagall attached the lid back to the trunk but it creaked ominously as DJ moved it.

As she fixed the window, Harry moved towards him, helping him pack his stuff.

"I have the cloak." Harry muttered. "Check for the family book and map."

DJ searched through his belongings, finding the large tome that contained all information on the Potter family line. There was no map.

"Oh no." DJ murmured. Harry clenched his fists. He flicked his wand, whispering "Accio Marauder's map."

Nothing happened. They waited till McGongall started to tell the other students who had woken up to leave. She started conferring with the prefects and DJ looked up, frowning at the misfortune.

"Why would someone want the map?"

"It's a valuable thing. Everyone knows about it. You used it to confirm that Voldemort was back, didn't you?" Harry hissed. "This is not good."

Come morning, the castle was on alert. Dumbledore had announced after breakfast that classes would be held as usual, but Aurors were patrolling the grounds and no student was to wander around on their own. The fifth years had DADA first thing so Harry couldn't talk to DJ properly about the Hospital visit. Promising to have the conversation at lunch, he went with Ron and Hermione to Moody's class.

The day was bright, but the mood was somber.

"What if someone's watching us, right now?" Hermione asked, clutching the strap of her bag tightly. "We wouldn't know, but they could keep an eye on us anytime they wanted to."

"But they'd have to know how to open it." Ron tried to console her. "Sirius said that the charms on it were strong. Even the Ministry was impressed with it."

"Sirius also said that he didn't tell them the password to unlock and lock the map." Harry added. "He was there when the tests were done. He made sure that they check it out and then it stayed with him and Remus till they got back home. No one knows the passwords except for the Fred and George, us, DJ, Ginny, Colin and Luna… a few in the Order."

"That's still worrisome. We've already established that there could be a spy in the order. What if that person decided to take the map? What if something big happened and they needed it? What if they realized that with us keeping an eye on everyone in the castle, it was impossible for them to do anything?"

Hermione's voice was high pitched. Harry wanted to placate her, but he had these questions himself. She wasn't just feeding into his paranoia, she was articulating it.

"There's no choice but to be on our guards then." Ron sighed. "It's bad, yeah. But we can't just keep worrying about it. We have to do something."

"What do you suggest?" Harry asked.

"Eh? Oh, I have no clue." Ron said. Hermione groaned. "Ron, be serious!"

"I am! Look, the Order and the Aurors are working on it. We need to work on the inside. Who knows about the map's existence?"

"The Order and the Ministry." Harry counted.

"Which means, Voldemort and all the Death Eaters, as well." Hermione explained.

"The entire castle." Harry recalled.

"The entire Wizarding world. The map's information was public record in brainstorming how Voldemort really came back." Hermione muttered.

"So basically everyone." Ron dead panned. "Excellent, we have a thousand mile long list of suspects."

"How about a tracking charm?" Harry wondered. "We can trace the map's whereabouts, couldn't we?"

"That's an option. Unless, the person who stole it was smart enough to render it undetectable." Hermione hedged.

Ron was frowning. "I don't understand one thing. Nobody can go through the wards. And I'm sure that the gates were not opened during the night. How could anyone get in?"

Harry had thought about that. "The entrance in Honeydukes. But the window was broken in DJ's dorm. The map flew into the grounds. Someone had to literally be there, probably hiding in the forest, to summon it. I don't think anyone would sneak into the castle and then out on the grounds to get the map."

"What about the Shrieking Shack?" Hermione whispered, wide eyed. "How many ways are there to reach that?"

"You think there's tunnel system like that?" Ron asked.

"Why not? The Whomping Willow is one exit, there could be others. Especially in the Forbidden Forest. Nobody knows everything about that place."

Ron gave a shrug of failure. "Then someone might have apparated."

Hermione's worry vanished. She raised her head and glared at Ron. "You cannot apparate or disapparate on Hogwarts grounds! How many times do I have to say that?!"

"You haven't said it recently, so I'd forgotten."

"You're so infuriating! This is important! Voldemort could have the map for all we know and you're making useless suggestions!"

"Are you sure there are no other ways to get into the castle?" Harry asked loudly. They were in the back of the Gryffindor group, on the steps, waiting for another staircase to move their way.

Neville turned around. He might have been listening in on them. He was holding his delicate plant, Mimbulus Mimbletonia. It had grown in the few months they'd been at the castle, under Sprout's supervision.

"It's like third year all over again." Neville said. "Except there aren't any dementors around the castle, so it's a nice change."

"Don't jinx it, Nev." Ron groaned.

"Is that a flower?" Hermione asked curiously, looking at a large pinkish… thing… at the top of the cactus like plant.

"Hmm? No, that's just another boil. But it's filled with pus which is good for healing broken bones. So it's better than a flower."

"I see." Ron was not good at hiding his disgust, but Neville didn't mind. "It smells though. Let's hope it doesn't explode in class today. Moody said he wanted to talk about Assyrian trees of healing in connection to magical rituals."

"Really? How is that connected to DADA?"

"No clue. Let's find out."

Moody was in a temper. He stomped around the classroom, barking orders for the students to take their seats quickly. He looked like he hadn't slept well, worn wrinkles on his face. He took a large gulp from his hip flask, shuddered and yelled at them, "Well? Assignments! Now!"

Harry brought out his hastily written homework on vampire bats for submission. At least he'd done the work. Fifth year classes were piling a lot of work on their heads.

Moody flicked his wand and all the scrolls flew towards the desk.

"Let's hope you haven't included nonsense about vampires." He muttered.

"Oh no." Seamus whispered.

"Um, professor?" Lavender raised her hand. Moody waved at her. "Go on."

"I was wondering… about the events of last night – "

"No one was caught. Something was stolen from a student, no casualties. The Aurors are on patrol, so we're safe. For now."

The last two words caused a shiver to go through the class. Moody gripped his walking cane and hobbled towards his desk. "Alright, new chapter today. You'll like this. Defensive charms. Theory, anyone?"

Hermione hand flew up. Many followed. Moody nodded. "Good, you've been doing your reading. Macmillian!"

Ernie jumped. "It's a charm cast to defend the caster from an attack."

"Any attack?"

"No. Just the non-fatal curses."

"Two points. Too vague. Longbottom."

"Um…" Neville looked at his plant before clearing his throat. "It defends you from regular dueling hexes and a properly cast charm can even reflect back curses."

"Yes. Five points. Granger, incantation."

" _Protego_ is the most used spell. It forms a curved shield or a dome if powerful enough. The range can be determined by deviation of incantation title which can even push back corporeal objects and people."

"Succinct. Seven points." Moody was shorter and more clipped than usual. He really did look bad. Harry thought it may have to do with him juggling his work in the Order and the castle.

"Bones, any Runic source or variation?"

Susan looked up from her book where she'd been reading slyly. "Yes! There is a … the runic symbol for zero. The Demiguise, that is."

"Ten points, since that is just a foot note in the chapter you were trying to read." Moody growled but agreed all the same.

"A demiguise's ability to turn invisible signifies its ability to protect itself without outside intervention. The Defensive charm has been in use for more than a millennium with seldom change. Protego has an interesting back story, which I will assume you know. If you don't, put it on your reading list. For now, we will begin the wand movement – "

Somebody knocked on the door. The class turned around and stared. Interruptions were rare especially with fifth and seventh years. Moody banged his cane on the floor and the door swung open.

Harry swore. Umbridge stood there, with her quill and notepad. She wore her usual frilly drapes which made him begin to hate the colour pink so much.

"Professor Moody. Good morni –"

"What are you doing here?" He asked brusquely.

Umbridge was startled by the rudeness. Ron smirked. He whispered the Harry, "Let's hope she knows Protego."

"My role involves teacher evaluations which mean that I shall observe classes conducted. The standards are to be maintained after all." She simpered as though it would do him in. Moody was less than happy.

"I wasn't aware that the History of Magic professor was allowed to barge into others' classrooms."

"Faculty evaluations…" Umbridge's voice was so high pitched Harry thought there was white noise. "… I did hand over a list of a comprehensive schedule of when I would inspect a teacher's methods for which year and subject."

"That pink parchment? I thought that was a memo for the rubbish bin."

A few students sniggered. Umbridge's face matched her dress.

And then, she moved to the side, making her way in the class. Harry froze. The mummy had been standing right behind her.

The sighting of the Oracle at the most unexpected and unwanted times was starting to frighten him.

Green light was shining through black holes for eyes. Her gaze was trained on him. Her bandages were so long it touched the floor. She didn't move. Umbridge closed the door, cutting off Harry's sight of her and walked towards the front of the classroom.

Harry was so stunned he couldn't move, still staring at the closed door. Hermione's hand touched his elbow. "Harry?"

He jumped and upset his bag, books spilling onto the floor with several a loud thumps. As he knelt to pick them up, Harry realized that he needed to talk to either the mummy or Rachel about this. He wasn't sure which task would be more daunting.

* * *

"It's been tampered with." Tom said. Percy noticed how solid he was. He could touch the things around him now. They were Frost, in Percy's room. Tom was lounging on the bed, flipping through the map. Percy had known the password, so it was easy to utilize it.

"Tampered with?" Percy's nerves were strained. He couldn't sit still. He kept walking around the room, nervously taking in deep and then shallow breaths.

"The map. It's very well done. Someone skilled in Runic Scriptures."

"It's always runic." Percy muttered. He thought back to when the Order and the Aurors had to search for Timothy Adalberto, an expert on Runes.

"There's a difference in _studying_ Rune theory and applying it practically. Adalberto sounds like he has had intense experience in the practicing of it. But this… there are alterations done on the map and two tracking charms (which I have disabled). It's been done by someone who is skilled in theory mainly. They have followed the strict rules of the study." Tom sat up, grinning.

"Sirius said the map never lies." Percy whispered.

"Well, the map has been lying for months. I can undo the changes, get it back to the way the creators, the _Marauders_ , made it."

Tom let that sink in. Percy stopped walking and stared at him. "You know who meddled with it?"

"My guess would be the spy in the Order of the Phoenix…" Tom let the sentence end in a hiss. He seemed very happy. It unsettled Percy.

The spy… the person who perhaps volunteered Harry's name for the tournament last year… whoever allowed Wormtail into the grounds, into the maze to get Harry's blood…

"A Death Eater disguised as an Order member, you think?" Tom asked, listening to Percy's thoughts. "Remarkable. If someone can hide under Dumbledore's nose for so long… I'm surprised. I should like to meet this spy."

"You're not the only one."

Tom looked up, pleasantly surprised. "What would you do, Percy? What if this person, witch or wizard, stood right before you?"

"I'd tell Sirius –"

"No." He chuckled. "No, what do you really want to do?"

Percy frowned. "I have to tell the Order!"

"That's it? You'd just tattle on them? No sense of revenge?"

Percy turned away. "I'm not like you."

Tom didn't say anything. He heard the rustling of the map for a while. Then, "This person nearly led to Harry being murdered. Succeeded in resurrecting Voldemort. Won the Order's allegiance and continues to fool everyone."

Percy remembered the green light hitting Harry. He had died in the maze that night.

Tom froze. Percy groaned.

"What?" He whispered. He jumped out of the bed, leaving the map behind and catching Percy's shoulder to look at him head on.

"Harry was killed?"

There was a terrible sort of excitement brewing in him. Percy wanted to look away.

"How did he not… how did he come back?" Tom asked in wonder.

Percy sighed. "I don't know… may be he was never dead, he was probably just knocked out!"

"Or maybe Voldemort can't kill Harry." Tom laughed. "The irony!"

He cackled as though it was the funniest joke. The sick feeling from the previous night came back in full force. After stealing the map from Hogwarts, they'd apparated to Gretna Green and got into Frost. Sirius had said they were setting up new wards and Tom had pointed at the marked lines where the spell casting would begin. But for the moment, it was acceptable to bunk in the empty mansion.

No one had lived there in weeks. The Order stayed in the safe house while the other members had their homes checked and safety upgraded.

"But will that happen again?" Tom stopped laughing and strolled back to sit on the bed. "What if Voldemort attacks him again? Will he just get back up? Is Harry blessed to survive anything?"

Percy glared at him. "Why are you so curious?"

He gave a casual shrug. "Aren't you?"

"No."

Tom just stared. "You're telling the truth? You really aren't curious? Harry died! And you haven't the slightest desire to find out how he could get back up?!"

"No!" Percy yelled. He clenched his fists.

But why, though? Why wasn't he curious? Percy didn't know. He could easily forget the fact that Harry had survived twice now. Thrice if one counted when Harry was a toddler. What was unforgettable was the time that followed the incident in Rome. The healing process had been stressful and painful for all parties involved.

Tom was quiet. It was eerie. Then his eyebrows flicked and he shook his head. "We'll get to that later. But now… this map is vital. Sit down, Percy."

He was angry. Percy could feel it. At the moment, he was pushing it aside because Percy had said the truth.

He sat down in front of him at the edge of the bed. Tom laid the map between them, opening every flap, every single facet he could. It was a large parchment. Percy saw the lines of ink spreading across the paper, creating spidery lines to mark exactly who was where.

"I have the counter spell. Keep an eye on them." Tom pointed to the room where several people stood. Percy saw the footprints of at least twenty students, shifting as moved about. He recognized Harry's name immediately.

Harry Potter, standing beside Hermione Granger who stood next to Ron Weasley. Percy looked up as Tom traced a small circle over the name that said 'Alastor Moody'. He muttered something a suddenly, the ink disappeared from the invisible circle he had drawn.

Percy looked at the other names. It took him a while to read the small print. There was Dolores Umbridge who stood near the window. That was the new teacher from the Ministry who replaced the ghost teacher. Sirius had defined her as 'the rare and poisonous pink tailed hag cross of a toad.'

The brown ink filled in the empty space but a new name appeared. This time the foot prints read as 'Bartemius Crouch'.

"Crouch." Percy said, trying to think of where he'd heard the name before. It sounded familiar.

"Barty Crouch." Tom said picking the name from Percy's flitting thoughts. "A Ministry Official."

"There were two of them." Percy remembered. That's what DJ had found. One Bartemius Crouch wandering in the Forbidden Forest and the other within the maze.

"Two people named Bartemius Crouch." They stared back into the map. It was clear as day. Crouch was teaching Harry's class.

"We have to find out more about Crouch. Where is he now?"

"Teaching."

Tom closed his eyes. "I meant the first. This one clearly is a relative like a son or grandson."

"So the imposter is Barty Crouch, either the father or the son?"

Percy watched as Tom leaned back. "I was named after my father who was named after his. It is an old tradition to name the first born after the head of the house. It still exists. You'll also have children with middle names derived from their immediate families."

They were stuck. Neither of them knew much about either of the Crouches.

"We're not stuck, Percy." Tom scoffed. "There's one other being that knows of me. Kreacher!"

His loud voice startled Percy, but not as much as the name itself. There was a loud 'pop' and the house elf appeared. Kreacher's legs shook as he lifted his heavy dull grey head to look at Tom with fearful eyes.

Percy turned to Tom. "You're not his master."

"No." Tom smiled. "But Kreacher and I… have come to an understanding of sorts…"

"My Lord." Kreacher whispered, bowing low enough for his nose to touch the floor.

"How have you been without my presence? Flourishing, no doubt."

"Kreacher has missed young master –"

"I'm sure you did. Tell me all you know about Bartemius Crouch."

Kreacher's eyes grew wider than possible. They were watery and very large for his small form, making look extremely vulnerable. It was obvious that he was terrified of Tom.

"Master Regulus spoke highly of Barty Crouch Junior." Kreacher whispered. His voice quivered. "Barty Crouch Junior was in the Dark Lord's inner circle."

Percy inhaled. "But… his father worked against Voldemort!"

"And the _son_ … worked for him." Tom laughed quietly. "What do you mean he 'was' in the inner circle?"

"Venerable Late Master Black told Kreacher how Barty Crouch Junior went to Azkaban… sentenced by his father, on trial."

"And he broke out later?"

"Kreacher does not know. Papers say he died in prison." The elf's voice couldn't go above a whisper. Percy felt he knew what Kreacher was going through but that couldn't be possible. Kreacher and Tom had been stuck in Grimmauld Place for years. Sirius had commanded Kreacher that he couldn't leave the safe house and yet, he was hundreds of miles away from London on Tom's orders.

"He must have gotten out somehow." Tom wondered. "Still loyal to his _lord_ … still positioned at Hogwarts, right next to Harry. For what was he sentenced to Azkaban?"

Kreacher gulped, eyes darting for a moment to Percy. "He… he was with Miss Bella… always with sweet Miss Bella. They were sent together. When the Dark Lord fell, they attacked the Potters and the Longbottoms, Kreacher knows not what happened then."

Percy looked back at the map. Crouch was making rounds around the students. He stopped by Harry's desk, probably talking to him. He was the spy who had tortured Alice and Frank, Neville's parents, after killing Melody and Jacob, DJ parents. He was the one who endangered Harry over and over again, getting him killed. And he was still …standing… _so… close…to…him_ …

Fury like nothing else rose in him. Percy's breathing went shallow, glaring at Crouch's name, willing for him to drop dead where he stood. He wanted to get Harry out of there, wanted to do something.

Tom was watching him. "You want to hurt him?"

Percy couldn't even speak with the anger bubbling in his throat and clouding his mind.

"You want to end him."

End. A fitting end would be for Crouch to feel all the pain he had caused. He should see if he liked having his home invaded, being tortured into insanity, being killed without a pause, without consideration.

Percy pressed his fists into the mattress. His teeth ached from the pressure of grinding them.

"We're going to Hogwarts, Percy. I want my trophy. And you can have yours."

Tom's voice was soothing. It made Percy relax, just a bit. He was still angry, though, feeling the overwhelming desire to strangle the Death Eater.

"When?" He asked.

Tom grinned. "We'll need to get in and get out without causing alarm. You can pass for a Hogwarts student, I'll transfigure robes for you, put a different glamour."

"They'll wonder why I'm not in class." Percy pointed out.

"Then we'll have to go when classes are not in place."

"They'll put up extra security in the night."

"Or…" Tom clapped his hands before spreading them like, _voila_. "Luna did have the kindness to inform us of the Hogsmeade trip on Friday. The Aurors will be minding the students in the village."

"What about Dumbledore?" Percy asked, surly. He never thought he'd be in a position where the Headmaster would be seen as an obstacle.

"And that dratted phoenix of his." Tom nodded. "We'll need a good distraction. Something that will call the both of them out of the castle."

Percy kept staring at Crouch's footsteps. They now walked towards another student named Hannah Abbott.

"I suppose finding the Order's imposter would stir up enough trouble worth a proper investigation." Percy suggested slowly.

Tom blinked like he had not expected Percy to agree with him.

"An impressive amount of trouble. The phoenix usually stays behind to look over the castle when Dumbledore is away." He warned.

"Not if they think Crouch could hurt one of the students. An immediate response would be Dumbledore apparating there."

"Are you sure that his familiar will follow?" Tom asked.

Percy looked back down at the map. "Dumbledore will want to know how Crouch fooled everyone."

"That does not guarantee what Fawkes will do. My suggestion is that we involve her."

Tom pointed at a completely different part of the map. Percy squinted to read the name of the student. It was another familiar name and it sent a shock through his system.

"Ginny? Why her?" He looked up to see Tom hold up his hands.

"If Ginny Weasley is in public and loses control of her magic, who better than a phoenix to save everyone?"

Percy gaped. "That's … **no**!"

"What did you say?!"

"You heard me!"

Tom's eyes burnt red but Percy glared right back. "We're not hurting anyone. We'll cause the distraction, expose Crouch, then get into the castle and get your trophy!"

They had a silent face off. Percy could feel the locket burn him willing him to back down, but he refused. He knew that whatever Tom's plan would be, it would have a result of a lot of injured people. He knew it.

Kreacher was still there, watching them. Percy couldn't do it anymore, shutting his eyes and facing away, holding his head in his hands. His temples ached from the pressure.

"I am not going to be like Voldemort. This plan has to be infallible." Tom hissed. Percy could feel the rage in his head, in the locket, burning him and his skin.

"We're not going to hurt anyone." Percy said, breathing hard and looking down.

"You are not in control –"

"I don't care. If I'm nothing but your _power source_ , these are my terms!"

Tom was still there, hovering over him, looking down at him, sneering for his hold onto his morals.

"Let's meet half way here." He said, lowering his voice. The pressure reduced and Percy lifted his head, finding Tom to be more negotiating.

"A compromise?"

"Of sorts, yes. I make the plans. Any changes will be regulated by me. I decide what has to be done and what not."

"But –"

"But…" Tom exhaled. "You have no idea how strong you are, Percy. Not enough, but noticeable. Keeping that in mind, here's the part that will make you happy - I will not kill anyone."

Percy sat back, waiting for the catch.

"No catch. No one will die by my hands. All I want are my trophies. Of course, when I say 'no one' that doesn't count Voldemort…"

Tom had that look. The left corner of his lips pulled up into a crooked smile and his eyes widened in hope. Percy wanted to believe him. He truly did, but it was too risky.

"I swear, Percy. Voldemort is the only person I will destroy. Nobody else. Not even the Death Eaters, that's your call."

He held out a hand. Percy looked at it before looking at his expression. Tom sounded sincere. Percy hesitated.

"Swear it on the Styx."

Tom frowned in confusion. "The river? How binding is that?"

"You will face an awful end if you break it." Percy replied.

"That cannot work on mortals?"

"Huh?"

"The Styx was, and still is, a declaration by the gods to prove themselves innocent of anything they've been accused. Demigods can make vows on it due to their godly heritage. Mortals cannot."

Tom said it in a straight forward manner.

Percy frowned. "That's not true."

"You obviously don't know your own heritage."

"Hey! Mortals can swear on it too!"

"Percy trust me on this, it will not work. I _can't_ be hurt by celestial bronze, the mist works _around_ me and the river Styx has _no_ effect on me." His tenor was unavoidable. It was like a solemn truth that Percy had no choice but to listen.

"Then swear it." Percy finally said, feeling desperate. He needed to make sure. "If you value your word, promise me that no one will die."

Tom reached for Percy's hand and held it in a vice like grip. "Percy, I promise you I will not kill anyone, save for Voldemort. I will not plan to kill anybody. I will not fatally wound anyone, as well. Again, except for Voldemort."

Percy was speechless. Suddenly, he had no option other than trusting Tom's word. He had said all that without blinking, blue eyes staring right into Percy's soul. His palms were warm like a human's and Percy's fingers tightened around them.

"I'll hold you to that, Tom." Percy whispered.

Tom nodded. "I know. So, let's make a proper, water tight plan, Percy."

* * *

 **Hogwarts break in will play over two chapters. You know what that means... Cliffhanger! Stay tuned, everyone. A lot of surprises on the way!**

 **Q: Can mortals swear on River Styx?**

 **Cabba.**


	22. In The Past, We Live

**A: I think anyone can swear on the Styx. Tom's clever enough to avoid that.**

 **Thanks to your encouragement, I've probably written this based only on your reviews!  
Sherlock Harry Winchester, ShadeofDeath746, brade1991, gediel.**

 **Listening to – Where the Lonely Ones Roam by Digital Daggers**

* * *

 _Friday, 5_ _th_ _Oct.  
Manhattan – 01:00 a.m._

Sally stared at the screen of her laptop. She should sleep. She should rest. She couldn't.

Percy had left days ago and there still no sign of him, no contact either. Quests were dangerous and no contact meant that he was busy in life endangering missions. So, Sally had legitimate reasons as to why she couldn't sleep.

Nico was surprised too when he'd read that post it note. He'd said either Chiron might have called Percy from camp and asked him to do something or Poseidon might have done so. There was nothing Sally could do but wait.

It sucked.

Sally was staring at her laptop in the hopes to finish up her foreword for her second novel. Her first book had to do with two wily kids. The second one was about glass ceilings in the business world. It was a bit of a departure. Her editor had liked the drafts so much that Sally had gotten it back with hundreds of red marks all along the sides on where she could improve.

 _The American Dream was unravelled far before Death of a Salesman. Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire, showcases shocking layers of the dirty reality the changing times brought._

Sally groaned. It sounded like one of her college papers. She deleted the sentences and placed her fingers on the keypad, ready to break either her head or the screen.

 _Everyone is aware of the wage gap between the sexes, races and ethnicity. It persists and pervades even to this day. Despite the Equal Pay Act of 1963 which requires all employees working the same jobs to be paid equally regardless of sex, there is a definite, disparate difference in the pay. I earn the same hourly wages as the newly hired receptionist in the office though I have worked for nearly two years in one of the main Editor's departments, while_ _ **he**_ _focuses on taking calls, playing Angry Birds and setting up office meetings._

The personal spin made Sally sigh. Marvin was not a bad person. A polite receptionist, greeted everyone, goofed off once in a while. The only thing Sally hated was that they earned the same. She always wondered if there had been some nepotism in the works but the economic magazine she worked for worked stricter than that.

She couldn't help it. The tense situation made her breathless. She wished Percy was here, sleeping in his bed, safe and sound like Nico was. She wished she could meet up with Sirius, but he had been busy with some plan or the other. She hoped Remus was alright, with him going undercover with other werewolves.

Sally looked back at her screen and hit the backspace button again.

* * *

 _Friday, 5_ _th_ _Oct.,  
Hogwarts, 8:00 a.m._

Harry was brushing his teeth. He had woken up late. He'd fallen asleep at three and woke up just after seven. Then he spent more than half an hour in bed reveling in the fact that _he had actually slept!_

The previous day, he had been treated to a horrifying vision of the Oracle of Delphi watching him fly around the Quidditch pitch. As was mandatory, he had done his regular flying session, sans snitch, sans Quidditch. He had been dying to get a feel of the wind. Flying was easy. Seeking would be troublesome. Harry couldn't even look at a snitch without getting sick.

Hermione had been in the stands working on an assignment while Ron and he had taken to the empty skies. Harry had had the distinct feeling that Ron had been practicing. They flew well, racing each other and diving till Hermione had caught them at it and yelled.

On one turn, Harry looked up and saw the mummy sitting with her hands on her knees. She was right next to Hermione, head turned as though reading over the witch's shoulder.

Harry had nearly fallen off his broom.

He stopped brushing and stared at his reflection. This couldn't go on. He needed to see the Oracle. That mummy had a lot of explaining to do.

He rushed to get ready. No time to waste.

"Hedwig, I'm leaving for a bit… " Harry muttered. His owl was perched on her stand beside his bed, looking at him curiously. She hooted when he spoke, seeming to glare.

Harry sighed. "Don't give me that look, Hed. I'll go mad if I don't find out what's going on." He tore a piece of paper from a notebook and grabbed his pencil, scrawling a note on it. "Give this to Ron or Hermione, I'll see you later today, girl. Promise."

She gave a sad hoot but let him tie the note to her leg. He shut his trunk, stood up and threw open the window. A cool gust of air hit him. His skin felt warm as his heart started to thunder. He took off for the forest.

Hedwig cawed and took off, flying in the other direction. It was a beautiful day. The clouds were scattered, soft like cotton candy. Harry caught the sight of students walking towards the open gates to Hogsmeade. He saw DJ and his little group of friends. Ginny's fiery hair was a dead giveaway. They walked past two Aurors who stood at the gates, keeping an eye out. Moody stood next to them, nodding once at DJ.

Harry suddenly remembered that Moody could see through the Invisibility cloak and quickly headed for the cover of the trees. When he reached the closest one, he let his Core react carefully. Harry raised his hand, placing it on the bark, which was rough but it soon melded with his palm.

There was a soft green glow. Harry closed his eyes, focusing on his destination and immersed himself into the tree and forest system like he'd done so many times before. It was the best way to travel. Well, there was flying, but there was something about using his own magic to do something so awesome.

He could never reach directly inside the borders of camp. Harry recognized the new forest around him. Long Island Sound was nothing like Scotland (duh).

The navy blue sky alerted him to the time. It must be past three in the morning. Probably not the best timing but he wanted to be back at the castle by the time the students left the village. He suddenly felt more awake than before. Harry took off the cloak and wrapped it up under his jumper.

He didn't need the actual seal of Poseidon every time to enter camp. But he could never see the entrance. He had to find Thalia's pine tree and have a demigod usher him in.

The tall pine nettle tree towered over most others. It was so adept at blending in with others that harry would have missed it if he hadn't been there before. He got off the broom and tapped his wand on it, shrinking it to the size of a large needle. Then he cleared his throat and called out. "Hello? Harry Potter here, requesting entrance into Camp."

He'd barely finished his sentence when the dragon protector of the Golden Fleece poked its head out. Peleus was heftier than Harry remembered him. His head was larger than a 14 sized shoe box for men.

He purred and Harry raised his hand to pat his hot, but wet nose. The dragon seemed excited to see him. That was good.

"Morning, Pelly. Mind if I come in?"

Peleus didn't mind. Harry found that he could go right through the barrier and was soon staring at the dragon that now towered over him. He had to be at least eight feet tall, just a head shorter than Hagrid. Peleus gave a snort and bumped his head into Harry's chest.

"It's been a while, boy. You missed me, didn't you? Yeah, me too. I'm here for something important. I have to talk to Chiron. I'll see you on the way out, promise."

The gold scales on the dragon's body shimmered and shook from the deep purrs. Harry found himself relaxing. Then he placed his hand behind the dragon's ear and did the one thing a Hogwarts student was not supposed to do. He tickled the dragon.

Well, Peleus wasn't asleep, so it wasn't that bad. The dragon gave a snort and coughed out a spurt of fire. Harry jumped back and laughed. "Yeah, I had that coming. I'll see you on the way out, buddy."

* * *

Percy stopped mid yawn. He had seen Harry's dot just leave Hogwarts. It was so quick he wasn't even sure. He looked up and saw Tom looking out from their cover under a grove of trees outside the Hogwarts boundaries. They had a good view of Hogsmeade from their vantage point. The first of the students, mostly the excited third years, had already reached the village.

Percy immediately looked back at Crouch's dot, lest Tom caught the thought. Barty Crouch Jr. was standing guard by the gates, overseeing the kids.

Tom turned around and said. "We'll strike when the village's busiest. Is Crouch out?"

"Yes." Percy showed him the map.

"Good. And there's Ginny Weasley." They watched Ginny's dot, next to 'Daniel 'DJ' Potter, Colin Creevey and Luna Lovegood'.

Percy's grip on the map tightened.

"We're just scaring her." Tom reminded him. "Let's wait for the others. The Three Broomsticks will be crowded only by lunch. Until then, Honeydukes and Zonko's will have most popularity."

Tom tapped the space over the building labeled Honeydukes. In the basement, there was a path highlighted, leading right into Hogwarts. "Repeat the plan."

With a small sigh, Percy said, "We lure Moody to Zonko's back room and knock him out. We cause a commotion in the Apothecary. The Aurors will be drawn there. We let a student find him and raise alarm. Then we go to Honeydukes –"

"You missed a step."

Tom's voice was clipped. Percy stared at the map, biting down on his tongue till he exhaled and muttered in a monotone, "I'll make Ginny think she's in danger, get her to react and set something on fire. With the Aurors and others distracted, the phoenix will hopefully come –"

"Not hopefully." Tom corrected. "He will definitely come because aside from controlling the fire, which any skilled witch or wizard can do, he will need to calm everyone down. I will guarantee it."

Percy waited for him to pause before saying, "With everyone preoccupied, we will get into the basement of Honeydukes, access the tunnel and get into Hogwarts. Then you sense out the … trophy…, we grab it and take the tunnel back and join the student mass, finding our way back into the forest."

"Easy enough." Tom cheered. He turned back to watch the large group of students in normal and wizard wear, running around the village. Percy watched Ginny's dot walking around the shops. She had no idea that Tom would most likely make her set fire to some part of Hogsmeade.

Tom promised no one would die. It still didn't calm him down.

More than an hour passed. The population of the mass rose till it was crowded. Students, adults, and Aurors fused and separated in waves of bodies. Couples roamed, glad for the fresh air, groups of teens bantered and ran about, the Aurors in uniform stood and marched about, vigilant, ready for any disturbance.

"Let's go." Tom whispered. Percy felt something as soft a satin touch his face, altering his appearance. He pocketed the map and let the loose robe hide the contours of his body the way most wizards did. He walked out into the sun, joining a group that had huddled together to look into the window of Hog's Head.

Within minutes, he walked right past the guards, making his way towards Crouch. The disguise of Moody stood out and Percy strode in front of him, passing by without stopping. Tom was invisible to all. He turned and cast a Notice-Me-Not charm, purposefully bad.

It caught Crouch's attention at once. Percy heard the electric blue eye whiz in its socket.

"He's following you." Tom whispered.

Percy made a fumble of his pen, not showing it. But the random movement of his robes would make anyone watching him think he had taken a wand out. Percy looked around 'furtively' and walked into Zonko's. He crossed DJ and Ginny who were examining strange bubbles that bounced on the counter. At least thirty kids crowded the shop.

Tom muttered, " _Imperio_." Percy felt a jerk of the locket on his chest and watched as the shop's owner, a tall, grey haired man, stiffen a little. Then he walked away from the counter and greeted Percy.

"Hello, right this way."

The cane knocked against the ground. Crouch was right behind them. Tom had been right. He wouldn't call for backup.

The owner opened the door into the storeroom. Percy walked in and immediately headed for one of the shelves. The owner left the door open by a small degree.

Percy stood in front of the shelf that held innumerable boxes. The owner walked up to him said "Do you have it?"

While Percy nodded and pretended to do something, Tom focused on Crouch, " _Usurae_."

Percy heard the door creak. Crouch had stepped into the room, drawn by some spell. Percy took out his dagger, showed it to the owner who nodded and flicked his wand towards the shelf. The entire thing swung open revealing a staircase. Percy and the owner descended the steps followed by Crouch and Tom.

"Stop right there." Crouch said. Percy spun round to face him but the owner simply stood straight staring blankly at the wall. It alerted the Death Eater and Tom said out loud, "Silencio."

His mouth moved but no sound came out. Suddenly, his own wand came flying away and Percy caught it. Crouch turned trying to see who had disarmed him.

"Knock him out." Tom instructed Percy.

What? That wasn't…

"Why me?" Percy asked, frowning.

Even that lapse of concentration turned everything on its head. An invisible force suddenly threw Percy against the wall of the basement. Tom, instead of helping, turned around and shut the shelf, plunging the room into darkness.

Crouch was skilled in non verbal spells. The room was filled with a sudden light which had no definite source. Percy held his wand tight before it could be summoned.

"Percy. Do it now." Tom warned. He stood back, waiting.

Still pinned to the wall, Percy watched as Crouch cleared his throat gruffly, saying, "Who's here with us? Show yourself."

Tom smiled. Percy couldn't believe this was happening. Why were they deviating? They didn't have the time for this. What if Crouch decided to call the Order –?

It was a test.

Percy glared at Tom and then whipped out his dagger, throwing it at Crouch's prosthetic leg. It hit the metal, embedding itself to the hilt, and made him stumble. His concentration dissipated and Percy fell from the wall, landing on his feet. He ran forwards and brought his leg up to deliver a roundhouse kick to his face. The blow was stunning. Crouch was out, not having expected a physical attack. So much for a vigilant spy.

Percy leaned down and grabbed his dagger, ripping it out of the leg.

Tom frowned.

"What?" Percy snapped. "Not violent enough?"

"No… well no matter, take his flask."

Percy was still seething. He bent down and found the hip flask Crouch always drank from. Tom took it from Percy and opened it, sniffing.

"Polyjuice. It has the hairs added in. There must be more of it in his office."

"So?"

"So… polyjuice potion is very advantageous. We'll need it. Oh, stop pouting like a child!"

"I'm not pouting, I'm glaring."

Before Tom could reply, Percy's vision was filled with red light. Everything turned black as his head hit the ground.

It felt like a deep sleep, except… it was odd. Percy blinked, temples throbbing. He tried to move but found his hands and legs bound with rope. He looked up, black spots clouding his sight. Moody's face, Crouch, was peering down at him.

"Jackson." He growled.

Percy stiffened. No, no… the glamour was gone. Crouch saw that it was Percy. His horror increased two fold when he saw the Marauders' Map clasped in his hand, while the other held his wand.

What had happened? Percy looked around, searching for Tom. The basement was alone except for the two of them… and the owner who was knocked out. Percy realized with a start that Crouch had done that.

Tom… Percy thought desperately. He needed to appear, knock out Crouch and remove his memories. He needed to do it now.

"You stole the map, didn't you?" Crouch asked. He pressed the tip of the wand to the parchment as Percy struggled to get rid of the ropes. He couldn't reach his sword. His dagger was elsewhere. Percy saw it by the base of the shelf, behind the Death Eater.

"Answer me, how did you get into Hogwarts?"

How was he to get out of this?

Percy glared up at him and said, "Get me out of the ropes and I'll tell you."

Crouch stared back. "Or shall I deliver you to your mother? Let's see what she has to say about this."

Bad move. Percy made the motion of pressing his lips together, carefully moving back. Then he threw his entire upper body forwards, slamming his head into Crouch's.

Wizards were really unprepared for physical attacks. Crouch staggered back, dropping the map, but raising his wand. Percy moved, shifting his weight to the left towards his dagger.

A spell hit him and suddenly, Percy felt weightless. Everything was glorious. It was warm and comfortable and he had a feeling that his head was in the clouds, dreaming softly, completely relaxed.

 _Lie still_.

Percy thought about it. It was easy to lie still but he remembered that he needed to get his dagger. He couldn't remember why though.

 _It's okay, lie still_.

Okay, Percy thought, resting his head back on the ground. No problem. He liked this feeling.

There was some sort of warmth over his chest. His skin pulled. But the blissful feeling countered it. Percy sighed, trying to relax but the heat grew. It came in waves, washing uncomfortably over him. Percy frowned. He wanted the cloudy, soft sensation, not the pain.

Suddenly, another voice yelled, _PERCY!_

There was a locket on his chest.

The heat was burning him. It was like fire. Percy opened his eyes, suddenly snapping out of it. He looked up at Crouch and, with a shout, he gripped the ropes around his back and yanked. They tore from the tremendous force and Percy rolled to the left to avoid another spell, another curse.

The ropes fell. His head pounded from the weight of whatever the previous spell had done. His arms ached from the burns, his chest hurt from the pain, and Percy whipped out Riptide, clicking it and throwing it at Crouch with a scream that tore out at his throat.

He didn't even realize what he'd done until after everything went quiet.

His eyes were closed, hands grabbing at his head. It was… a terrible feeling. He hated it. Percy's legs were shaking and he took a few steps back, leaning against the wall to steady himself.

He opened his eyes. He wished he hadn't. Riptide had skewered Crouch in the chest, pinning him to the wall opposite Percy. He was dead.

* * *

 _Manhattan – 4:30 a.m._

It was fun watching their faces. Not many demigods were at camp as the number had been during the summer, but it was still somewhere in the high forties. Only a few of them now were crowded around Harry, having greeted him sleepily until he announced the reason for his visit. Now he was facing a bunch of dumbfounded demigods and a very quiet Chiron.

"You want to have an audience with the Oracle?" Clarisse La Rue asked, slowly. She was in celestial bronze armour. Seriously did she wear that to bed? DJ would get a coronary just watching her work through the day in her battle worn clothes and gear.

"Yes. Or rather she wants to talk to me. Not my decision." Harry told, still waiting for Chiron's verdict.

"Did you dream about her?" The centaur asked. His wording was careful. The tone of his voice suggested that someone might have given Harry a dream, convincing him to come to camp. Which sounded ridiculous, to be honest.

"No. I saw her at Hogwarts. At first I thought I was imagining it, but then the more I stared at her, the more real she seemed."

The youngest child, Harley, barely nine, stepped forwards, dark eyes wide in awe. "The Oracle was at your school castle?"

"I saw her clear as day." Harry confirmed. "Chiron, I wouldn't be here unless it was very important, and I believe that she wants to talk to me."

"What about?" Connor Stoll asked. Travis was admiring Harry's trainers or had fallen asleep standing up.

"I'm here to find out."

Chiron had a frown. "Harry, I'm quite concerned about this. Seeking counsel from the Oracle is dangerous business. She can give you answers that can haunt you or even destroy you. Only demigods can withstand that power and it is only for a short amount of time. Lord Apollo himself is careful when it comes to the Spirit of Delphi."

Harry felt his face burn from the reprimand. He knew Chiron hadn't meant it, but it still felt belittling. "She came to me, Chiron! I feel like... like I know what she wants but she has to really confirm it. I don't want to be wrong. I have to meet with her."

Chris Rodriguez stepped forwards. He was very different to when Harry had first seen him. Having been cured by Mr. D, his personality as a shy, good spirited fighter was a surprise to many. It was even more shocking as to how Chris was actually Clarisse's boyfriend. Harry was sure Silena Beauregard had something to do with that. She and Clarisse were pretty close.

"What does she want?" Chris asked.

She wants to take over Rachel's faculties and stop using a corpse to give prophecies.

"I'll ... I will tell you." Harry looked up at Chiron. "I will tell you once she explained exactly. My guess is not a nice one and I hope I'm wrong."

The demigods started to whisper to one another. Harry didn't feel too intimidated by them. He'd left camp with a good impression having saved them all by animating the trees. They trusted him, but were rightfully wary when it came to Oracle business of any kind.

"I will grant you permission to see the Oracle, Harry." Chiron finally said. "But be aware that you might not get the answer or explanation that you want. You will be a different person when you leave the attic after she speaks to you. Whether it confirms what you know or subverts it, take caution. You could be driven permanently insane if the truth is too destructive."

Harry swallowed. "Thanks for the pep talk."

Chiron nodded, solemn. He looked towards Clarisse who let out a dramatic eye roll and grabbed Chris's hand. "Fine. Come on, Potter."

The three of them, (Chris kept asking 'why me') walked towards the Big House. The cool air made Harry shiver. He was in his jumper and denim, not much of a cover, but it blended with the casual atmosphere of camp.

"I don't know what you're thinking." Clarisse told Harry. They made their way up the stairs. "People have been driven insane by her, you know."

Harry sighed. "I keep seeing her. It's not fun trying to measure toad eyes with the Oracle breathing down your neck, because that actually happened."

Clarisse scoffed. "Toad eyes?"

"Yes, that's the weirdest part of that sentence." Harry retorted.

"You guys…" Chris yawned. "It's too early for this… why couldn't you have waited till morning, Harry? Real morning with the sun and all."

"It is real morning at Hogwarts." Harry muttered. "Sorry, Chris. I forgot it was still bed time for you tots."

Clarisse elbowed him. It hurt.

They reached the floor with the attic right above them. Harry pushed his shoulders back as Clarisse brought the ladder and trap door down. The dust fluttered over their heads like snow. Chris gave an almighty sneezed that probably woke up the rest of camp and the Oracle herself.

"Good luck." Clarisse said. For a moment, she looked apprehensive. Then her eyes hardened and she yelled, "Well? Go on!"

Harry saluted and climbed the steps. He reached the top and pulled the ladder back up, watching as it melded with the floor of the attic and closed the entrance.

His bravado fell. Harry looked towards the lone window and found the Oracle sitting on the three legged stool, dirty bandages and all. He took a step forwards, paused, turned away, turned back, took another step and then three steps back… until finally… he was standing in front of her.

"Oracle, I come before you… at your insistence."

At first, she did nothing and Harry worried if he had made a mistake. But then she sat up. He nearly fell back from the fright.

She was staring at him. The bandage over her eyes was burned black. Green light filtered through it and she was watching him till she said, " _Harry Potter."_

"Yes." Harry replied. He swallowed, his throat dry. Goosebumps erupted over his arms. Her double timbre voice rattled his ears.

The mummy raised her left hand. The index finger was pointed at him. Harry stepped forwards wondering if there was something specific he had to do, when the Oracle leaned forwards and pressed the finger to a point between his eyebrows.

He was blinded by the light. Green was all he could see and Harry was taken back to the maze.

 _The third task of the Triwizard tournament. His knee burned, poisoned and bleeding, his entire body ached, he turned and watched as Voldemort aimed his wand at Percy; he knew what the curse was going to be and ran and pushed Percy out of the way because that was the only thing he could do, the only thing that made sense._

 _Green light hit, filled his sight, his senses, and burned something from him. He was thrown back by the violent force, but he landed on soft grass as though someone had gently laid him down._

 _Harry opened his eyes. His glasses had fallen from his face. Yet… he could see clearly._

 _There was a mango tree above him. He stared at the ripe yellow mangoes that hung from the branches. Harry had the urge to climb the tree, to find out how high he could go._

 _He sat up and looked around. It was a lovely place. The grass was a beautiful healthy green, the trees were tall and strong, and the house to his right was possibly the coziest place on the planet. It had walls around it but he could see plants of many varieties creep over the bricks. He could see the first floor of the house, its red and white bricks, and its large windows with soft violet curtains._

 _The beautiful house had a delicious aroma of …pancakes._

 _Harry got up, wondering where he was. He stared at the house and then all around him._

" _Percy?" He called. He was sure that Percy was here. Harry couldn't be here alone. Percy was with him before, he had to be here now._

 _Harry walked towards the gate. It was a small black one. He grabbed the bars of the gate and look at the garden. It was fresh and bountiful. Creepers and climbers, flowers and fruits, vegetables and spices, coloured the place._

 _There was a picnic table. It had a spread of mounds of food, resembling a Hogwarts feast. In the centre were mangoes and oranges and… roses?_

 _Harry spotted a stack of pancakes on a plate. It was odd. He dreamt of pancakes often, but it wasn't even an English breakfast. Why not eggs or bacon or sausage or even toast and baked beans? Why pancakes?_

 _The glass door, a French door, slid open and a man stepped out. He wore a red jumper over black trousers. His hair stuck up in the back, jet black as Harry's. His round glasses were perched on his nose. He was carrying another plate of pancakes. He set it on the table and then turned towards Harry._

" _Oh Merlin." The man said. His smile had vanished when he caught sight of him. Harry stared at his hazel eyes, his large nose, red burnt cheeks, drinking him in. He looked very sad. Defeated. He was smiling before having seen Harry, but then…_

 _Harry stepped back. He didn't want the man to be sad. His smile had made Harry's heart skip a beat. It made his throat clog up and his eyes to burn._

" _Harry." The man said. He walked towards him gripping the gate with tense hands. Harry stared. He didn't want to… he shouldn't…_

 _He reached forwards and placed his palms on those knuckles. They were warm and real._

* * *

 _Hogsmeade – 9:40 a.m._

 **R &H**

 **Will meet you before dinner or at the village. Busy with stuff.**

 **H.**

Hermione pursed her lips at the message. Hedwig had delivered the scrap of paper more than an hour ago and she and Ron had had an intense debate on whether they had to go back to the castle and find Harry or stay at Hogsmeade and wait for him the entire day.

"I bet you, he's gone to London… or New York." Ron had said which ended the conversation because there was nothing they could do with that. Hermione had wanted to find an Order member and inform them, but stopped herself knowing that it could get Harry in trouble.

And boy, he'd be in trouble when she got to him!

"Sugar quill?" Ron offered her.

"Oh for … Ron, aren't you worried at all?" She argued, but grabbed the quill nonetheless. It was quite addicting.

"If I have to worry about Harry whenever I don't see him, I'd be having therapy right alongside him." He pointed out.

Her shoulders slumped. "He has been a little distant as of late."

They sat outside The Three Broomsticks, watching a bunch of Hufflepuff third years go gaga over the Quidditch store opposite the pub. Ron's eyes were trained on the branded Keeper gloves presented in the window display case.

Hermione tried to relax. Harry was good at travelling. He didn't like staying put. He did this a lot… but, she didn't have to be sanguine about it.

"Do you think he's gone to… the camp?" She whispered the last word. Ron turned to her, quill sticking out of his mouth, looking ridiculous.

"The Demigod camp?" He asked.

She widened her eyes and shoved him. He nearly fell off the bench.

"Shush! Yes!"

"Bloody hell, Hermione! I didn't yell it."

"We have to be more discreet." Hermione said. Ron exhaled dramatically and sucked on his quill. She watched his cheeks hollow in.

"He might have wanted to talk to Percy."

"But he has the mirror, why would he go all the way over to the States?"

"May be… I dunno, 'Mione. Let's interrogate him not me."

Ron never seemed to worry when he had to. And the times when he would panic, it was a gross over-exaggeration. Hermione felt her heart beat fast while she watched him finish one quill and grab for another. Her breaths went shallow. She found herself laboring her lungs to force a larger gulp of air but it didn't seem to…

Her hands were shaking. Hermione looked down at them and then up at their surroundings.

She could smell smoke.

"Ron… Ron!" Hermione stood up, grabbing his arm and looking all around her. He got to his feet, having sensed her alarm.

"What? What's wro –"

"Do you smell that!?"

He froze at the panic in her voice. The people around them were also slowing down looking around them in confusion and then in dread.

Hermione couldn't breathe.

She clawed at her throat. Someone screamed. Suddenly there was a stampede.

Ron was yelling something. The ground was shaking. Dimly, Hermione wondered if that was her. She couldn't think straight.

"The crystal!" Ron was shouting into her ear. Hermione felt tears leaking out of her eyes. She breathed through her mouth, grabbed the black crystal that hung on a string around her neck. She pinched the knot of the string right above the crystal as she pulled on it. The stone grew warm in her hand and she felt her surroundings leave her. With a tug at her navel, she was pulled into emptiness till her vision was filled with a sprawling lawn that stretched in every direction. The vast green of the land that filled acres seemed to hit her.

She staggered on all fours, gasping for breath. Hermione's hands made fists of the grass and she let out a shriek freeing a shock of energy that surged through the ground, crushing the rocks and plants.

* * *

Tom had climbed out of the basement and had said, " _Metuo_."

It caused the air to glow a soft red before the colour, like gas, moved through the walls and the spell affected the people standing in the shop. There was chaos.

Percy was numb. All he could think of was the blank eyes, both normal and not, staring from the corpse. Riptide had been thrown with such force that it broke four of Crouch's ribs and struck him through the left lung. Part of the blade that had stuck out from his back had pierced the wall, leaving him in a grotesque standing pose.

Percy had killed him.

Metuo was Latin. He was in shock. He translated it. Tom was spreading fear. Percy couldn't move.

"Get ready." Tom warned. He closed his eyes, raised his hands and called out, " _Timor Pavoris_!"

Percy had killed Crouch.

The screaming began. The noise of a hundred footsteps, running, shoving, yelling – a stampede.

Crouch was dead.

The students were in a panic. They didn't know what was wrong. They didn't know why they were panicking, feeling such dread. Fear had crawled into their skin, making them take leave of their senses and run around liked headless chickens.

Gabe was headless. Percy had chopped his head off.

 _The black sword was light in his hands. Almost balanced. He brought it down on his step father's neck, severing the head from the body. For a moment Gabe sort of jerked. Then he lay, motionless like stone. The soul was being absorbed by the blade, the body along with it. Within a minute the entire corpse, all the blood splatters… were gone._

Tom's face came into view. His eyes were a sweet blue. Percy stared into them.

"Don't panic. Whatever you do, do not panic. Run to Honeydukes and get into the basement. Do nothing else. Percy, do you hear me?"

I killed them.

"Percy, snap out of it! Get Riptide and your dagger, I'll clean up! Go!"

I murdered them.

Tom growled. His eyes burned a bloody red. The locket responded and Percy choked in a cry, blinking rapidly and doubling over. Tears fell without warning.

"Get into the castle! Now!"

Tom's words pierced his skull (like Riptide had pierced Crouch's chest).

 _Don't panic. Get inside the castle. Don't panic. Metuo, Timor Pavoris. Don't panic. Don't get scared. The spell was not for you, nobody is hurt. You're fine. Get to Honeydukes, get into the castle. You're safe. You're fine. Everything's alright._

* * *

 **So… yeah. Stay tuned for the actual busting in and out of Hogwarts!**

 **Q: What happens to the dead who avoid judgement?**

 **Cabba.**


	23. The Perfect Plan

**A: You're right, they get sent to the Fields of Asphodel by taking the EZ line. SlytherinRen got this one!**

 **You, Sherlock Harry Winchester and ShadeofDeath746 have given me enough support for this chapter! I think it's my longest one.**

 **Listening to – Smells like Teen Spirit by Think Up Anger ft. Malia J**

* * *

 _Friday, 5_ _th_ _Oct  
Camp Halfblood, 4:45 a.m._

Nico watched as Sally slept on top of her laptop at the dining table. Her back would ache when the sun rose. She was drowning herself in her work in order to avoid worrying about Percy, but he knew that it wouldn't work. He couldn't sleep either. Just ten minutes ago, he had IM'd Harley to find out if Percy had sent any message, but camp didn't know anything about him.

Instead, Nico was treated to a five minute blabbering about Harry wanting to talk to the Oracle of Delphi. Harley had been too excited to notice the look of horror on Nico's face. To him, it was the most interesting thing (that was not directly life threatening) to happen in camp since the battle.

When the call ended, Nico decided to drop in and find out what was really happening, promising to return before Sally awoke.

He'd gotten the hang of shadow travelling months ago. But there was always the pinprick feeling of the _dark_ nibbling away at his soul. The dark wasn't bad, but it felt like a neutral space where anything could happen and he didn't want to risk losing consciousness mid travel. That would be a disaster. So he stuffed a bit of ambrosia in his pockets, munched on a biscuit and left for camp.

The skies were a deep purple with hints of orange over the minimal clouds. It was a gorgeous scene and Nico let the scent of strawberries surround him. The breeze was cool, the silence was disarming and camp was perfect.

Three demigods stood in the centre of the amphitheatre. Chiron was with them, towering over the teens. His front hooves pawed at the ground. Nico saw that they were nervous.

"di Angelo!" Connor Stoll raised a hand and Nico obliged his fist bump.

"Hi!"

"Nico. You look well. How is school?" Chiron asked, sounding surprised.

Nico nodded, trying for a smile. Chiron had never shown anything other than politeness towards him. Still, he had a feeling that the hero mentor held a subtle reservation.

"I'm good. I just... I mean, Harley told me about Harry."

Katie Gardner folded her arms. "Oh gods, I just hope he'll make it through."

"He will." Travis assured her. "Harry's a sweet dude."

"Harry being a _sweet dude_ won't sway the Oracle, man."

"It sways me."

"And here, I thought I was the gay bro." Connor muttered shaking his head. Nico blinked.

"As disconcerting as the situation is, we must discuss the root of the issue. Annabeth is due to arrive today. Katie, I want you to head a Counsellor meeting before lunch. If the Oracle's divine intervention has anything to do with the Titans, include Harry." Chiron said.

"Me! Um... okay..."

"You'll do great, Katie kat!" Travis exclaimed. "Just remember to arm wrestle Clarisse for the head chair."

"I hate you, Stoll."

Nico waved his hand to get their attention. "Just a thing, did you hear from Percy?"

The demigods shook their heads but Chiron looked even more stressed from the mention of his name. Nico faced the centaur who sighed and said, "Come in, Nico. There is something you ought to know."

"Wait, why him, why not us? We're older?" Connor complained.

"Yeah, but I was born before any of you." Nico said and smirked when Travis guffawed.

He followed Chiron into the Big House. The porch ceiling lamp was switched on and was the only source of light. They stepped into the warm hall and Nico rubbed his palms to create a little friction. Chiron gestured him towards an armchair by the fire place. Nico found himself looking at a _non-wizard-ified_ hearth, if there was such a word.

"Nico, has your father informed you of the current events?" Chiron's voice was grave and his eyes were far.

Aside from Gabe's escape, which still confused Nico as he couldn't remember the entire thing, Hades hadn't contacted him at all. "Not recently... is there anything specific? Is it about the Titan army?"

"Yes." Chiron leaned forwards and then reversed into his wheelchair, his lower half folding into inanimate legs. He looked like a greying, exhausted Sisyphus who had to roll up his sleeves to push the boulder again.

"Did something happen to Percy?" Nico whispered. The thought hit him so suddenly, he felt light headed. He nearly fell into his armchair, gripping the leather tightly. They'd been so relaxed for weeks. What if something did happen? Grover was missing, they should have gotten Percy to camp; he was priority number one!

"The truth is that I am unaware of Percy's whereabouts. But considering last week's news, I have a guess."

Nico sat up, listening intently. He was wide awake.

"The Titan army has established connections with the lost sea gods of the old. Lord Poseidon's realm was attacked the day after Grover went missing." Chiron said, cautious of the wording.

But the prophecy, as he'd heard, had meant to fall on Percy's sixteenth birthday. They were nearly an entire year away from that. Nico exhaled, "But... then... the war's already begun?"

"It was not a full scale battle as I'm told. Lord Hermes informed his children here, of the happenings. The underwater kingdom sustained heavy damage but they held through the onslaught. It was a very quick hit."

"A surprise attack." Nico said.

Chiron sat back. "Yes. The kingdom is under repairs and the Titans have planned it well. Poseidon will have to remain away from Olympus to personally hold the protection of his dominion. All the immortals are aware of his tenacious dedication towards his people. He will not leave till he is sure that the enemy will retreat for good."

Nico's ADHD mind presented the problem that Chiron was explaining. "He won't be able to help in the real battle?"

"Very likely. The Crooked One is clever with strategy. He will have placed his allies to attack the realm whenever necessary so long as to keep the Sea god busy. My conjecture is that Percy may have been called down to help. Or that Poseidon has decided to keep him close to ensure his survival until the summer."

Chiron stopped and waited for Nico to fully understand the implications. It dawned on him, the seriousness of the situation. Kronos was taking away the most vital parts of Olympus' warriors. Poseidon, an elder Olympian, Percy, the prophecy child, and Grover, one with a mind link to Percy and a candidate (?) for title of Lord of the Wild. Like Ron would say, in chess an experienced opponent would target not just the king, but all the important pieces, picking them off in order to corner the player.

"But... Percy wrote that he'd be back in a few days..." Nico said, feeling desperation seep into his veins. He suddenly felt cold all over. He couldn't stay with Sally, living with the knowledge that Percy wouldn't be there, that he wouldn't see him wake up, yawning, wiping dried drool, a terrible bed head, still managing to look perfect.

"His father might have called him down without explanation. Even so, expect there to be no connections for a while. The Titans are interfering with the Hephaestus broadcasting towers over the East coast. It is a matter of time when the Iris messages stop working as well."

"We could lose connection? He can do that?!" Nico protested.

Chiron finally looked directly at him. He wasn't reserved against Nico, he was stressed. It was so clear and Nico felt a little ashamed at having suspected him.

"A few days ago, Lady Artemis brought the news. Olympus hasn't received any missive from the oceans. None of their calls have been answered. Skype is functioning under worse conditions but the last recorded message was from Lord Triton who reported to Mr. D that the Titan Lord's lieutenant has been calling the shots for a while now."

Nico repeated the unfamiliar word, "Loo – tenant?"

"Lieutenant. His second-in-command." Chiron explained. "His right hand deity may as well be in the city or on the borders, but the case remains that the king himself may be in home territory, enacting his plans through various divisions."

He then looked directly at Nico. "This will be a difficult question to answer, Nico, but I want you to at least consider it. Has there been any disturbance in your father's realm?"

"Like an attack? No. No." He shook his head vehemently.

"Nothing out of the ordinary?" Chiron persisted. "It may be a small incident, easily overlooked, but can be significant."

Nico wondered if the centaur could read minds. He'd just remembered the predicament surrounding Gabe. An escaped soul was no tiny feat. But it was solved and was covered up so fast that the only thing to prove that it had really happened was to ask the people who'd seen him, who were all in the know.

Could that have been the Titans' doing? No, he recalled Charon's complaint of the strange magic that had pulled Gabe out. The magic was resembled a wizard's, which was a _tainted morsel of a mortal_.

Not a Titan or a monster or even a Giant.

Nico shook his head. He couldn't articulate it though.

* * *

 _Hogwarts, 10:00 a.m._

Percy ran. He pushed through the crowds, surged right through the mob that was screaming. Even the Aurors looked distressed as they tried to contain the situation.

 _The spell was not for you._

Percy didn't panic. He made it to Honeydukes and fought his way against the flow of students. There was fear in their eyes. Shouts and shrieks echoed all over the place. Tom's widespread spell descended over the village like a vapour of terror. Percy was single minded as he got into the storeroom and locked the door behind him. The screams lessened by a degree and Percy pushed aside some carton boxes, stamping the ground with his foot. One bit of space made a hollow sound and he pounced on it, searching for the embedded handle. Percy found it and lifted it, pulling up the stone slab and revealing a dark entryway.

He dropped into the tunnel and closed the door. It was pitch black, but there was only one way to go. He started walking, feeling his way towards the north, into the castle grounds.

The sounds from outside were completely blocked out. All Percy could hear was the sounds of his heavy breathing. The walls of the tunnel felt rough and he stumbled a few times over bits of rocks that stuck out from the ground like stalagmites.

"You know the difference between stalagmites and stalactites?" Tom's amused voice filled the silence.

Percy gasped, swivelling towards the sound and reaching for his pen, but his pockets were empty. He took out his dagger as Tom illuminated the passageway. Sharp white light filled the space bringing Tom's grin into view. He seemed very… ecstatic.

Tom shook his head. "All these words, Percy… you _are_ smart! You know exactly how to put up a front, don't you?"

"Where's Riptide?"

They watched each other, motionless. Percy pushed down all the bubbling anxiety he felt.

Tom held out his pen. It was hovering in mid air above his palm. Percy swiped and clicked it, running the blade through Tom's body.

"I told you, celestial bronze does not affect me. You're wasting time, go."

" _I'm_ wasting time?" Percy enquired, breathing out. "What were you doing?! Why did you leave me!?"

"I had to check on the Aurors, I had to make sure they hadn't realized that Crouch was gone too long." Tom said, shaking his head. "If you had knocked him out when I'd told you to –"

"You were supposed to knock him out!"

"That was never agreed upon."

"You were closer to him! You were behind him! He didn't know you were there! You were at the perfect position!"

The locket burned. Percy groaned, moving away. His chest couldn't take it. The skin felt raw and cut and bleeding.

"Stop that!" He hissed.

Tom stood tall. The tunnel was small, smaller than someone of Tom's height, yet he didn't need to stoop. Nothing was making sense.

"We're running out of time. You need to go."

Percy grabbed his shirt, trying to shift the locket away. "Not until you tell me –"

"Percy." Tom warned. "Do you know what they'll do to you if you're caught? Wizards are very unforgiving, especially to non humans. Get to the castle now."

"Not until you tell the truth. You're not some substantial spirit, you're something else. You're not dead or alive, you're not human or a monster, you've been lying from the start. Nothing good can bring people back from the dead, nothing natural can suck out other people's power like you can!"

Percy stood up, glaring at Tom. " _What_ are you?"

The claustrophobic space of the tunnel was nightmarish enough without the added horror of Tom's vicious aura. Colours of red and black gleamed around his body. The locket wasn't just hit, it was heavy and dominant, pulling Percy's body inwards as though gravity had shifted and the locket was the source of everything.

Tom leaned down, their faces inches from each other. His red eyes were startling; holding a kind of power that made Percy want to end it all, turn his sword on himself.

"You will get your answers once we get my treasures." Tom whispered. He tilted his head, a small smile flitting across his face. Percy shuddered. "Once this goes the way we planned, I'll tell you everything."

The violent pressure eased and Percy felt like he could breathe. As they straightened up, a long sound pricked at Percy's senses. It was a low call of perfection. It was a bird's song so beautiful that it transfixed him to his spot. All the pain seemed to leave and Percy felt buoyant. It was different to what Crouch had done to him. That cloudy feeling had been ignorantly blissful, but wrong to its very core. This sound, this music was absolute peace.

Tom's eyes turned blue. His expression was gleeful.

"The phoenix." He whispered in excitement. "Dumbledore will be in the village. We have twenty minutes at the most."

But Percy didn't want to listen. For the first time in a while, his head felt very clear. Tom's presence was barely a smidge at the edges of his mind.

"No." He said.

For a moment, one crucial moment, Percy felt like a person not connected with anyone. Not with Tom or even his dad, or Grover or Flo or Harry. He was an individual, alone but not lonely, all by himself but not weak. Just another person in the billions, a person like any other, taking a stand.

The moment was extinguished when the locket flared again and Percy was falling into numb blackness.

* * *

 _Camp Half-Blood, 5:00 a.m._

Harry gasped, wrenching himself from the mummy's touch. He fell back, hitting the hard edge of the piano and falling to the attic floor. Pain flared in his spine and he groaned, clapping his hands over his eyes to erase the vision.

He had seen James. His dad had been right there; he could see him, hear him, hold his hand.

It was worse than the Mirror of Erised.

Harry knew what the Oracle had shown. When Voldemort's curse had hit him, he'd been flung into a state of limbo where he met his father, talked to him, cried in anger and sadness.

But why had she shown him that?

The Oracle stood up. Harry froze, watching her in trepidation. Crap, she was going to curse him. What had he been thinking coming here? It was the stupidest thing possible –

" _Where is she?"_

Harry stared up at her. There was no point in lying to her, or hiding. The Oracle would find out one way or the other. "New York city."

There was a hiss in the room. He couldn't tell if she was pleased or enraged.

" _Her name_."

Name? Harry frowned. Something was not making sense... or may be the spirit knew that the host was near but didn't know exactly who it was?

"Rachel Elizabeth Dare."

He stared up at her, waiting for a proclamation. She stayed quiet for too long, giving the jittery feeling that bugs were crawling on his skin. The silence was equal parts awkward and terrible. It wasn't right.

" _No_..." The Oracle's voice trailed off. If a mummy could give facial expressions, Harry would have sworn that she looked lost. It was a frightening thing. If the Oracle didn't have answers, then who did?

"No?"

" _No_."

They watched each other. Harry shifted to sit on the dusty ground properly, but she spoke again, freezing him. " _Patron_."

"Pardon?"

She was quiet again and Harry felt more frustrated than scared. Patron? What patron? Whose patron?

He blinked slowly. "My patron?"

Was she talking about Poseidon? Harry was quite sure that the god identified himself as male.

" _Your patron_." She confirmed.

Harry didn't have a female patron. He was quite sure of that, unless it was someone who he'd never met but had ... always... known...

"Hecate?" He whispered, flabbergasted by his own guess.

" _No_." This answer was another whisper, hissed at him. He hated this. What did she want? Who else could be his patron? Hecate was suspected to be the guardian of magic wielders, but maybe it was only in the world of the Greek gods and not witches and wizards. What was the answer?

The Mummy was motionless, staring at the wall behind him, and the spirit was quiet for the longest time. Harry pushed his weight onto his hands behind him, trying to sit up. From the stories and legends, heroes when to the Oracle with problems and she answered them on what to do. So if the Oracle had a problem, who was she supposed to ask?

Apparently a wizard by the name of Harry Potter.

Why did it always have to be him?

Harry cleared his throat. She looked down at him.

"May I ask you a question?"

She kept staring. She hadn't driven him insane yet, so he figured it was okay to progress.

"Why did you sought me?" Why not anyone else? Why not a demigod? Why not a hero?

The mummy's eyes burnt green. " _THE ONE with the POWER to vanquish the_ _DARK LORD approaches_ _... Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies ... And the_ _DARK LORD_ _will_ _mark_ _him as his equal, but he will have POWER the_ _DARK LORD_ _knows not ..."_

She was looking at him. He could almost imagine her eyes, real ones, trained on him, dooming him to his fate as she'd done with several others.

"That is my prophecy." He murmured, not daring to blink. She kept still as though waiting for something else. Then she lowered her head by an inch, the intensity of her glare reduced. The space between the bandages over her mouth rippled as green smoke started to fill the attic. The window was open, but the smoke was concentrated in the room. Harry watched as it hovered around them.

Then she spoke again in her ethereal voice, " _The children of the dark NIGHT have their dwellings – SLEEP and DEATH, his brother… the sun never shines upon these two. SLEEP may roam …over the wide earth, and come upon the sea,… and he is kindly to men. But DEATH is not kindly,… and whoever he seizes upon, him he holds fast_."

These words were like thunder. They resonated around the room, around him, throwing him back more than a year, back to when Trelawney had proclaimed them herself. They hadn't made any sense back then, and even now he was perplexed.

"Why... how did you... what does it mean?" He stammered.

The cold morning filtered through the green smoke and enveloped him. He shuddered, feeling goose bumps rise on his skin.

The mummy stood up straight, still fixing her eyes on him. She couldn't blink, so it was even unnerving.

" _Where is she?"_

Harry breathed out shakily. "I-don't-know."

" _You. Know. Her_."

This sentence was punctuated with powerful pauses. Harry couldn't even sit up straight. He wanted to crawl underneath the piano to hide away from her scrutiny. There was nothing calm or peaceful about it. The Oracle was furious.

"I don't!" Harry tried to tell her. "I don't know who you're talking about! If you could give me a clue –"

That was a mistake. Harry flinched as she shifted ever so slightly, her voice grating on his nerves, straining it till he thought his ear drums would burst.

" _BROTHERS of destiny, ruled by prophecies,  
Broken chains, gained by tearless eyes,  
What ONE lacks, the OTHER receives,  
Born from when innocence dies.  
Only REBIRTH shall set them free,  
Breaking the strength of lies,  
United by Love so deep,  
By hand of Life."_

Harry had never heard this. And yet, the prophecy made his blood sing and his body move towards the Oracle, bending his knee and lowering his head.

He could feel the heat of her gaze. She was examining him, speculating if he was worthy for the task at hand. Finally, with the green haze filling his sight and her voice ringing in his ears, she spoke, " _Find. Her_."

It was a clear dismissal. She was still watching as he scrambled off the floor, rushing for the door. He nearly slipped down the ladder, falling at Clarisse's feet.

"Hey!" Chris yelled. "You're alive!"

"Did she give you a prophecy?" Clarisse asked, closing the door. The green mist from the attic had leaked but disappeared into the clean air above them.

Harry stammered. "Yeah... yeah... yeah, she ... she gave me... three... three prope... proce... three..."

"Three prophecies...?" Chris whispered. Clarisse's jaw dropped.

" _What?"_

"Um..." Harry said. His body was shaking. His legs were weak and he leaned against the wall. All the words were stuck in his throat and it was difficult to force them out. Clarisse and Chris caught him before he could fall and they helped him down the stairs.

On the ground floor, Harry could see the faint sunlight peeking through the windows. To his surprise, Nico was there, sitting beside the fire place. Chiron was in his wheelchair.

Annabeth was there too.

"Oh Olympus, it's true." She whispered, staring at him with wide eyes. "What were you thinking, Harry?!"

Harry's body shuddered as though it were very cold. He never generally felt all that paralysed by the cold unless it was Halloween, but this was different. He felt feverish.

"What's... what's the... time...?" He murmured, not being able to raise his voice.

"Half past five." Nico said, jumping off the chair. Chris brought him towards the arm chair, but Harry waved him away, leaning against it.

"I need to go."

"Go where? Did the Oracle give you a quest?" Annabeth asked.

They were all staring at him. He could see Clarisse in deep thought, probably trying to decipher what three prophecies meant.

"Sort of. I have to find someone. A patron... my patron..." He corrected, staring at the fire. The flames were short but hot enough for him to feel more alive.

"Your patron?" Chiron looked thoughtful. "Was she referring to Poseidon?"

"No... The Oracle said 'she', so it's either a muggle, I mean, mortal woman or a goddess..."

Harry closed his eyes, trying to gather his thoughts. The Oracle had always asked where, not who. So the identity didn't matter, the place did. But it mattered to Harry. How was he to find someone he didn't know?

 _My patron_ , Harry thought. _Who was she? She? Lily? She saved my life, a mother is anyone's patron, right? What am I supposed to tell the Oracle? The one whom you seek is in a cemetery? No, it has to be someone alive. Sally? But she's mortal and muggle, that didn't make sense. Sirius is my guardian, but the Oracle said Patron._

 _Hecate... it has to be... but she'd said 'no' to that..._

Ron had debunked the Prometheus theory, which made Hermione revert to Hecate, but where was Harry to go from there? He'd need her help.

"I have to go back to the castle." He said, startling them. The rubbery feeling in his limbs had dissipated from the warmth of the hearth and he stood up, back straight.

Chiron frowned. "Harry, if it has anything to do with the Titan war –"

"I don't think so... she seemed to ask something specifically attributed to me. I didn't get a godly or titanic vibe from her." He said.

Clarisse frowned. "But the prophecies she gave –"

"They weren't detailed for me to go anywhere. It's more like, she's telling me what will happen." He tried to explain, but none of them seemed to accept it.

"Prophecies?" Annabeth asked. "What's with the plural?"

He shrugged. "She gave me three. One of them is mine and the other I heard it from someone I know. They're wizard related."

Even as he said it, he remembered that it was Trelawney who had given both. What if that's who the Oracle was searching? But she wasn't his patron... was she?

"I have to go to Hogwarts." He said again, moving towards the door. "Chiron, thank you for letting me see her, but I think I know what I have to do now."

"Harry, we need to talk about this!" Chiron called but he was already running out of the Big House. He didn't mean to be rude, but he needed to know. He had to talk to her, to find out if something about her had a greater role to play in his life.

"Harry!" Annabeth caught up to him, yanking on his arm. He stopped, because she sounded angry and desperate.

Her hair was frazzled and her clothes were dirty like she had hiked through miles of woodland. Her eyes were sharp as ever as she began her interrogation.

"Did you really see the Oracle at your school?"

It seemed like old news to him. He nodded, looking around him. A few campers were already out and about. The sky was a deep purple but long lines of red streaked through from a point on the horizon of the sea.

"I've never heard of the her issuing multiple prophecies at a time." Annabeth muttered. Her fists flexed and Harry sighed.

"Sorry, Annabeth, but I need to go."

"Wait! Wait, have you heard from Percy?!"

He watched the miserable expression on her face which was immediately masked by a fierce look.

"I'm sorry. I don't know. I've thought about it for the entire week. If he's on a quest, he'll come back."

"Don't say that!" She interrupted him. "Don't ... don't make promises. They always break!"

"I'm not ... what d'you want me to say?" He argued. He remembered why he hadn't like her when they'd met. "Annabeth, you know I get these intuitions when he's in danger... I'm not getting them now, so I'm banking on that!"

"If you're talking about your armlets –"

"Bracelets."

"I don't trust them." She said, folding her arms. "I don't trust anything that has no seeming explanation for it."

Harry gritted his teeth. He grimaced, trying to shake his shoulders lose. "Maybe it's one of those thing you just have to believe."

"I don't believe in anything blindly."

"Then trust me! Can you do that, Annabeth?"

Perhaps once she would have refused. But now, she was silent, her stormy visage a force to be reckoned with. He could see why Percy liked her. She had a fierceness, the kind of power people seldom had. It attracted others to her, whether in fear or respect.

Not to mention her muscle definition, which looked like art.

"Are you sure he'll come back?" She asked.

"Yes." He told her with no qualms. "It's not a promise. I know he'll come back."

* * *

 _Hogwarts, 10:17 a.m._

The castle was relatively quiet. Tom hadn't realised how long it would take to reach the castle. The Marauder's Map had called it the One-Eyed Witch's Passage. It exited beside the aforementioned statue on the third floor.

His feet hit the ground as the passage closed up behind him. He shook his shoulders. It was a little odd to be in a body not one's own, but he could sense the strength underneath the skin he wore. Percy was also shorter than he was used to, with slightly longer, straighter hair, but his physical strength was exquisite. Tom felt a grand wish to run about and burn the excess energy barely contained within the body.

Percy barely stirred. Tom stood on his tip-toes to get used to the body and then closed his eyes, relaxing as much as he could. Percy wasn't human, but that wouldn't be problem. The plan was all laid out, even with a few detours. He knew what to do.

From above, there was a faint reverberation of glass and metal. A part of himself was calling out. Tom smiled and headed for the stairs.

The map was in his hands. The first and second years had been called back to their dorms after Hogsmeade had issued an alarm, calling most of the Aurors that had been stationed at the castle. A few students still lingered about, but Tom manoeuvred around with ease. Hogwarts had been the one place he'd belonged. One day, it would be the other way around.

That started with finishing off the _Dark Lord_. A pathetic excuse of a man, barely fit to lead an army. Tom was more Voldemort than the Dark Lord.

The seventh floor was nearly the same as usual. His robes was a familiar weight and Tom felt like a student once again, discovering the secret room that answered everything he had asked for.

Well, nearly everything.

The tapestry of the dancing trolls were new. He had never seen it before. The trolls wore pink tutus and the entire design was very recognizable. He turned his back on them and started to walk back and forth, muttering under his breath.

The doorway did not appear.

Tom cursed. Voldemort would have employed specific codes that only he would know. Tom hadn't dared to use Legilimency when he'd met him. That would have been foolhardy.

He looked back at the map which indicated that there was nothing behind the wall. He smirked. Of course, the so called Marauders wouldn't know about this. Not just anybody could find the Come and Go room. Tom remembered the hours he had spent simply roaming the castle. He had found the Chamber of Secrets, he knew how to access all four houses, he knew all the passages that the map had shown, save for the one by the Shrieking Shack. But the Whomping Willow hadn't existed in his time, so that was excusable.

Tom tried again. _I want a place where the Dark Lord's secret is hidden._

He repeated this twice, walking in front of the wall. Nothing happened.

Last case scenario. _I want a place where my soul resides._

He had to say it. He hadn't dared to use the word Horcrux out loud. It wouldn't do for Percy to let it slip to anyone.

It worked. The wall shimmered. A large mass emerged, moulding into an immense, patterned door. He would have loved to examine the markings, but there wasn't enough time. He entered the room and closed the door, noticing that he the name **Perseus Jackson** disappeared off the map completely.

The room was narrow and dusty. Its grey walls were high and soft light materialized from ceiling. It illuminated the space. Across the room was a waist high pedestal with an unflattering bust. He carving was dated at least a few centuries. But it was the jewel on top that held his attention.

He was right. Voldemort had managed to find more of the Founders' belongings. Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem, famed for its mythical property of making its wearer wiser than their contemporaries, was a heavy and dazzling thing. Even under the murk of decades, the precious stones glittered. Tom smiled.

He touched one of the hanging jewels when another high pitched resonance, similar to a violin string, ran through the air. Tom took a step back. No... how was that possible...?

He wouldn't hide two horcruxes in the same place, would he? The chances of that...?

 _That fool._

Tom grabbed the diadem and stuffed it into a pocket in his robe, sealing it. He could sense the second piece. Somewhere higher than the seventh floor...

He pushed down his fury. It wouldn't do to wake Percy. Not now. He hadn't expected him to revolt with such a brazen attitude. He'd convinced the boy enough, he had thought. He'd saved Nico, ensured the goal of his actions to not clash with Percy's ideals, made sure that his actions could not alert anyone, especially the gods...

Tom exited the room and marched up, reaching one of the smaller towers. He'd broken into Headmaster Dippet's office many times. This time would be different. Dumbledore would have additional protection. The first one was the pair of gargoyles.

It's a good thing Percy had an unexplained supremacy over all kinds of protective spells.

* * *

"Sirius is on his way." Kingsley told Albus. The professor sighed.

They stood in the cellar of Zonko's, staring at the dead body of Barty Crouch Junior. He wore Mad-Eye's clothes, which were too big for him. The metal prosthetic lay to the side while the fake eye was completely obliterated. The only thing left of it was the strap.

Crouch was on his back, eyes open. There were no visible signs of damage on his body. Albus watched as another Auror declared initial cause as the Killing Curse, but there was something to be said to the stiffness of the body that puzzled him.

"How are the students?" Kingsley asked, his slow tenor settling Albus. The Auror would be able to handle things here. He needed to get back to the children, get them into the castle.

"Shaken. Ms Granger caused a tremor, no injuries or casualties. She used her portkey to immediate effect. Ms. Weasley nearly had to use hers as well, but Mr. Potter was with her. He was able to calm her down. Ms. Greengrass and Mr. Finnegan created a crater in Hog's Head, again, no injuries that weren't healed in minutes. Most others were victims of a tough panic charm, wide enough to set everyone to be frightened. Fawkes extinguished the spell."

Kingsley looked up sharply. "Is that it? Do you have nothing to say about Mad-Eye?

Albus felt the ripple of blame. "This was unprecedented. We have to trace back to when Alastor was attacked and when exactly Crouch took over his identity."

"We know when." Kingsley whispered. "Do not deny it, Albus. It has been more than a year."

Albus lowered his head. But it was only for a moment. A slow flow of anger burned in his veins. He suddenly felt far more active despite the tiredness of having to spread himself thin over a hundred different activities.

"Send some of your Aurors to search Crouch's quarters. We must find Alastor."

"Dead or alive."

"Yes." Albus sighed, looking down at the body of someone everyone thought to be dead and gone. It was an elaborate scheme which was being unravelled only now.

* * *

The ring. Tom fumed. It wasn't hidden at all. It had been underneath the Pensieve along with something else, in a secret cabinet under four separate intricate enchantments. It was hidden by Dumbledore's standards, but not by Voldemort's. Somehow, Dumbledore had found the ring.

Which meant he must know about its importance.

Tom felt the weight of all three pieces, in close range of each other. The locket was the only one with skin contact to Percy. The boy wouldn't be able to handle anymore of his influence, no matter how powerful. There would always be some effect.

He checked the map at regular intervals, avoiding everyone with ease, till he reached the DADA classroom and office. Crouch's accommodation was behind the office. Tom reached the classroom and had just pushed the door open when a migraine seemed to hit him from between his eyes.

Percy was awake. And he was angry.

Tom shut the door with a huff and exited the body just as Percy took over completely.

"YOU!" Percy screamed. Tom quickly cast a silencing charm over him. Percy continued to shriek till he realised that no sound came from his throat. He glared at Tom, face flushed, eyes furious. His hands shook from the strain and Tom wondered if that was the effect of the close proximity to the other horcruxes.

"I'm sorry." He said. Percy stopped talking and stared at him in bewilderment. It burnt Tom to apologize but he knew there was no quicker way to convince him.

"We were running out of time and I acted without thinking. I got what we came for. But I think you would want to look at this."

He handed the map over to Percy. There was suspicion etched in every move of his as he took the map. Tom held in a snort.

Percy looked over the open section. His eyes caught sight of what Tom wanted him to see. His mouth moved silently.

Tom waved a hand lazily and Percy's words were a slur, " – alive?"

"He is. Crouch hid Moody in his room. The map shows those who are alive. Or at least, I hope it does."

Percy frowned. "Why should I listen to you?"

Tom stepped forwards. They were nearly out of time, but if he got Percy back on his side, it would be worth it. "Because we're working towards the same goal. Do you realise that this war will be over before the fighting begins if we succeed? If you help me we can achieve this within weeks. I found two of my treasures, we save people along the way. We're both winners here."

Percy gripped the map in his hands. Tom watched as he fought with indecision.

"What did you do to me?"

"I knocked you out. I have apologized for that. The only reason I did it is because we're on a tight schedule which we still are, Percy. We can find Moody and then leave before anyone finds us. But we need to do it fast."

Percy shut his eyes tight. Tom held in his irritation. If it had been anyone else, anyone human, he could have just forced them to bend to his will, but demigods were superior. Tom needed to ensure that he had the upper hand at all times, however subtle it had to be.

"We have to find him." Percy muttered. "Fine. I'm doing this only because you helped Nico."

"Debt repaid in full." Tom agreed. Percy nodded and headed for the stairs, crossing the benches in the classroom. He didn't even pause to admire the various notes on the board. Crouch was very good at his role, as an ex-auror, a gruff ally, an obstinate friend and an experienced teacher. He had fooled everyone.

And had paid for it. All wizards pay in the end.

Percy reached the office, looking around for the door that lead to his lodging. It was off to the side. The map directed them into a cozy room which held all the necessities for survival. Crouch had mimicked Mad-Eye's Spartan lifestyle well.

"Marvellous." Tom said, uncovering a large cauldron half full of pale muddy fluid with no odour. "I'll pack some of this up. It will be useful for us."

"He's here!" Percy exclaimed, poking at the map. He was standing in front of a trunk beside a coat stand. It seemed innocuous but Tom walked over after having stored some of the Polyjuice potion.

"Must have been a miserable existence, living in one's own trunk." Tom mused. He raised his hand and opened the trunk. It had seven compartments. He examined it carefully before unlocking the last. There was a small grating noise and the lid shut. Some of the designs on the front of the trunk shifted, changing patterns till the sounds stopped and the lid opened again.

This time, it was different. They peered in, seeing how deep the trunk went till at the bottom, was a silhouette. It was too dark to see clearly, but Tom knew it was him.

"He's a tough one." Tom muttered. Then he sighed. The 21st century Manhattan lingo and slangs were affecting him.

"We have to get him out." Percy said, dropping the map and looking down the sides on the inside of the trunk.

Tom saw something shift in the ink of the map. He reached for it and moved to open another segment.

Five Aurors were making their way to Hogwarts. At the same time Minerva McGonagall and Severus Snape were walking from the Staff room. They were heading for the DADA section.

"We need to leave now. They must have found the body." Tom said, standing but Percy was still holding the edge of the trunk.

"We can't leave him!" Percy protested.

"We found him, he's alive. If anyone realises that someone has broken into the castle –"

"They already know that someone can."

"Yes, but this time, it's far more serious." Tom clamped down on his temper. "They should not suspect that we were here."

Percy glared. "I'm not leaving him."

"If you stay to help, you'll get caught!" Tom snapped. He thrust the map towards Percy. "Look! They're on their way! They'll find him!"

"But –"

"Percy, if there was time, I would check him into St. Mungo's myself, but there isn't any! Do you understand me?!"

Percy was stubbornly stupid. Tom took back all the compliments. He was an impertinent idiot of a demigod. Tom growled and looked back at the map. They couldn't get back to the third floor without getting caught. Tom could cast an Invisibilty spell, but McGonagall's Animagus ability would alert her to a presence. And she would hex first and ask questions later if she thought the castle was in danger.

"Let's at least get him out of the trunk." Percy hissed. Tom looked at him. His sea green eyes were wild. He could almost imagine the sight of the ocean encased in them.

An idea occurred to him. They were in the third floor. But to access the One Eyed Witch's tunnel would be to cross the staircase where the professors were. Tom remembered another way to get out.

"Hold this." Tom gave him the map and stood up, raising both hands to hover over the open trunk. Moody's body shifted and then started to rise. He was lighter than expected, though that should have been obvious.

They stepped back as the man emerged, unconscious from the cramped space. His skin was waxy pale, his left leg was absent his clothes hung like curtains and he smelled. Tom set him down on the floor.

"Put him on the bed." Percy said.

"Too suspicious." He replied. Then he grabbed Percy and pushed him out the door.

"Wha –"

"Look, they'll think he pulled himself out. We can't afford anymore time!"

Percy looked back at the pitiful man as Tom had to practically drag him away.

They kept a close eye on the map. McGonagall and Snape were on the third floor. Tom glared at Percy. They exited the classroom and took a left, running towards the inner corridor that lead to a small hallway full of old paintings. It was a dead end after that, but Tom headed straight for it, Percy ducked his head against the stares of the drowsy portrait inhabitants.

He'd used this passage way only once. Hopefully, it wouldn't be too filthy this time.

The end of the hallway had no paintings, just bare walls. Tom ran a finger through one of the curvature carvings near to where the two walls met at a right angle. He leaned towards it and whispered, " _Open."_

He felt Percy stare, jarred by what he heard. It hadn't been English. Tom smiled as a small rectangular opening, big enough for an adult to fit through, swung inwards, revealing a narrow and steep stairway.

"Let's go, Percy."

They entered the dark passage and Tom closed the wall behind them. He illuminated the ceiling and made the light move with them as they descended the stairs.

"You spoke the snake language." Percy said. His voice echoed down the long staircase.

"Parseltongue. The third floor is called the Serpentine Corridor, Percy. There are many way to get into the Chamber of Secrets. Most were rendered unusable after the eighteenth century plumbing renovations. The most popular entrance is in the first floor girl's bathroom."

Percy fell quiet but his thoughts were loud. Tom saw snippets of Harry explaining about a diary in his second year. Tom clenched his jaw. The fate of the diary still grated on his nerves. His first horcrux, destroyed by the most powerful, most loyal servant, the basilisk itself.

The thoughts stopped abruptly and Tom saw a vision of chocolate biscuits. He frowned. Percy was learning to regulate his thinking process.

They kept a keen eye on the map. The two professors found Moody. The five Aurors were securing the castle. They were oblivious.

But Dumbledore would know. He would know that the ring was missing, that someone had taken it. Tom had been careful while removing the charms and protection, and then putting them back up to not alert him.

But chances are he would not tell anyone of it. He had a nasty habit of keeping his secrets. It made him a formidable ally. Tom trusted Percy with some vital information. Voldemort trusted a few select allies of his Inner Circle with his. Of course, Lucius Malfoy had failed that, but it was necessary to delegate roles to root his power.

They reached the final level. It was colder down away from the sunlight. The steps stopped and they emerged next to a large carving of the face of Salazar Slytherin. The white marble was aged greenish like the water all around the chamber. Tom looked up at his ancestor, while Percy coughed and clapped a hand over his mouth.

Tom glared at him. Was he laughing?

He wasn't. He had smelled something horrible. The odour didn't bother Tom, he could ignore very strong sensory receptions. But he knew what the cause of it was.

They walked towards the main entrance of the chamber. The decaying, terrible smell became stronger. Percy turned his head away as they climbed through the tunnel opening and walked down a rocky passage. They heard the rats first.

Tom lit the scene before them. Hundreds of huge, grey rats were scurrying around the half eaten body of the dead basilisk. The snake looked at least fifty feet in length, curved uncomfortable over itself like its own weight had crushed it. The head rose, staring upwards and Tom realised that it remained un-eaten. There were several dead rats lying on top of its nose and face.

"Its eyes are open. Don't look at them, they'll kill you with a single glance." He told Percy.

Percy stopped walking. "This is worse than Medusa."

Tom couldn't swallow past the lump in his throat. The basilisk was centuries old, and yet defeated by a mere twelve years old. He walked towards the front of the snake. The rats ran away from him.

He froze at one point, staring into the snake, there was something in its mouth, that hadn't dissolved completely. The venom would still be potent no matter how long it had rotted away, but this stayed intact.

Tom summoned it and watched as it floated gently away from between the fangs, hovering in front of him.

Slow drops of venom fell from the mangled diary. It hadn't managed to burn away all the pages. The cover too was still black. It stank of rusty blood and was stained with dark ink.

A mere twelve year old...

Tom thought back to the ring that had been in Dumbledore's office. It had been hidden beside a crystal ball. So, naturally, he had taken the ball along with his treasure.

Percy stepped back. He could feel the madness and fury boiling within Tom. With a few helpful breaths (not that he really needed it, but soon he would) he burned the diary into ashes, moving away from the smell of the venom. Then he said, "There's a crystal ball in your right pocket. Take it out. It's time to listen to a prophecy."

* * *

Dawlish knew when he was being dismissed. Shacklebolt had told him check Mad-Eye quarters for clues to where the real Mad-Eye could be, but really, it was an order to get away from the most important place. Hogsmeade was where the action was, yet he was relegated to the backstage.

The lawn was filled with tall grass that swayed in the wind, along with his robes. The castle loomed above them and he continued to seethe. Two of the men with him were trainees. Diggory and Belstone, if he remembered their names correctly. (Of course he'd remember their names, who didn't know Diggory?) The other two were Tonks and Lancoris, two women who hated him because... well, they just hated him and the feeling was mutual.

"If you would stop sulking." Tonks snapped at him. Dawlish glowered.

"The crime was at the village, he's sending us here to look out for the toddlers." Dawlish threw a heated glare at Diggory while Belstone met him straight in the eye.

"Ignore him." Lancoris said, rolling her eyes. "He's a bit frustrated."

Belstone smirked. Diggory was still frowning. He didn't seem to be aware of the conversation at all.

"Cedric?" Tonks called.

"Hmm? Oh nothing, just thinking about... the panic spell..."

"It was a modified version of the hex." Lancoris said. "Janice said she suspected a spell that increased the anxiety four-fold. A curse like that can kill a heart patient."

"Whoever it was... was their aim to kill the imposter? Why would they want to spread panic?"

"Good question, Diggory. That's what we'll find out. First thing's first, we need to find Mad Eye." Tonks said, all humour vanishing. Dawlish personally didn't like the old man, but he had been a fighter. He wouldn't have gone down without a fight. If he was imprisoned for more than a year, what would his condition be?

They were at the entrance, right in front of the double doors when a movement caught his attention.

Tonks and Belstone saw it as well. All three of them stopped which made Lancoris and Diggory stop walking as well.

"Did you see something?"

Dawlish scanned the grounds. He was sure he'd spotted something.

There it was! One point shimmered like there was a Disillusionment charm, but something dark flapped in the wind.

Tonks reacted the fastest. She aimed a stunner in the direction but it missed the mark. The adversary stopped moving to hide better, but Belstone raised his wand and yelled, " _Locomotor Mortis_!"

His aim was dead on as they all heard a thump. Dawlish cast ropes to bind the invisible person and they advanced slowly. Lancoris stepped forwards and Tonks leaned down to pull the hood of the Invisibility cloak to reveal a very young face.

"Harry!" Diggory groaned.

Harry stared up at them with a flushed face like he had run all the way from the village. "Um... hi!"

* * *

 **That was longggggg! Jeez, stay tuned everyone!**

 **Q: Is the Oracle bound to give answers only to demigods?**

 **Cabba.**


	24. Affected

**A: I think the Oracle can respond to mortals as well, but that hasn't happened in PJatO or HoO. (Haven't read ToA yet.)**

 **Catie Cat, ShadeofDeath746, Guest, gediel150 and Sherlock Harry Winchester, your acknowledgement means so much. Thank you, enjoy the chapter!**

 **Listening to – Subeme La Radio by Enrique Iglesias ft. Zion Y. Lenox, Descemer Bueno**

* * *

 _Friday, 5_ _th_ _Oct_ **  
** _Hogwarts, 12:00 p.m._

"You were _swinging_." Kingsley's voice was so sceptical; it hardly matched his expressionless face.

Harry gripped the arms of the chair as he faced intense scrutiny from an assembly of Aurors towering over him. Kingsley was seated in the chair opposite him, but his unhappiness was clear. Harry had screwed up.

They were all crowded in Dumbledore's office and while the Headmaster himself wasn't there, Fawkes was, giving his own unblinking stare.

Sirius was standing there as well. His expression was the worst. He was disappointed. Harry felt as though a cold hand had caught him by the throat, squeezing it till he couldn't breathe. He couldn't look at him.

"From tree to tree." He mumbled, eyes fixed on the ground. His lie sounded pathetic even to himself.

"Let's get this straight." A younger man, but with harsh lines across his face, said. "You were in the forest the entire time swinging from tree to tree?"

"Sounds right."

There was a collective sigh.

"Harry, you know none of us believe that." Tonks said. Even she sounded upset, except her cause might have had more to do with the fact that his lying skills sucked.

"Listen to me." Kingsley told him. Harry gritted his teeth, winced and then raised his head by a few inches. Behind Kingsley was a woman named Delilah Lancoris. She was a couple of years older than Tonks but from what he'd heard they'd run plenty of missions as partners. Next to her stood Cedric and Zach. Ced had a frown on his face while Zach raised an eyebrow as if to say 'C'mon kid, you'll ruin your own reputation!'

"Harry, you've been warned against taking impulsive actions. I expected better from you."

That stung. He barely stopped from wincing. Kingsley wasn't holding back. "You know the situation and the perils of wandering away from safety. Holding the Hogsmeade visit was a risk in itself but we had guards on hand so that the students can have a break and try to wind down. If you're so determined to prove that you need 24/7 protection –"

"I don't! I mean, I was safe! I was careful, nothing happened to me!"

"Harry!" Sirius scolded. "Just… listen to what he has to say."

Harry stared at Sirius who looked away like he couldn't deign to hold his gaze for long. Kingsley continued. "Do you realize the stakes in the war, Harry? The unique position you hold?"

"Yes." He mumbled.

"Good. Harry, you're smarter than we know, and you know that we know that you were lying. Would you tell us the real answer? You weren't in the castle, nor in the village. Where did you go?"

He couldn't tell them. He couldn't say a word about camp or the Oracle… or his quest. He wracked his brain for a better explanation.

"I was worried about Hagrid." He said. This time, he looked right into Kingsley's eyes. "Nobody has told me anything about where he could be despite the _unique position_ I hold in this war. I just wandered around the outer edges of the forest where Hagrid usually works, preparing for his practical classes. Time got away from me, that's my fault, but I was there, I swear!"

Dawlish snorted. "Easy to swear when we don't have a map to verify. Very conveniently stolen at the right time."

Harry fumed. "I don't have the map. I don't know where it is."

"We're not getting into this again." Tonks snapped. She looked Dawlish. "We checked for it, it's not on Hogwarts grounds."

"He could have hidden it!"

"Are you doubting my godson?" Sirius asked with quiet fury. Harry sighed in a little relief when Sirius's ire shifted from him.

"Just a minute ago he was lying to our faces! Very badly at that!" Dawlish scoffed.

"Yes, he's a terrible liar. Do you doubt him now?"

Dawlish hesitated as everyone else looked at him.

"Alright." Kingsley said. He turned back to Harry. "Precaution goes a long way, Harry. I know you have good intentions, but please take care. Inform someone of your whereabouts, it's for your safety."

Harry didn't like being chastised like a child. He had been absolutely safe in travelling to the States and to camp. The only foolhardy thing was confronting the Oracle, but that had been the entire point of the journey.

Still… he understood their worries. Someone had created a mass hysteria attack on the village. Someone, the same person or not, had killed the imposter.

At least one part of the mystery was solved. Tonks had explained that Barty Crouch Jr., Crouch's son, had assumed Mad-Eye Moody's identity to great success for over a year. He had been the one to enter Harry's name in the Triwizard tournament, he had carried information of the Order to Voldemort, probably even exposing the rebellion to the Ministry.

Still… who had killed him? If Crouch was such an excellent spy, his location at Hogwarts was at utmost importance to Voldemort. Had it been an ally who had confronted him, got into a duel and had accidentally killed him? Had it been a Death Eater? Had it been Voldemort himself? But he was in Germany…

Was he back?

Harry sucked in a breath, feeling a phantom pain in his quiet scar.

"Alright, Harry. Go back to your dorm. And please, if you have something to say or do tell us." Kingsley added. There was a note of sincerity in his voice but it only made Harry to resolve to not say anything.

They got up and Cedric said, "See you, Harry." The sentiment of vigilance went unsaid but he understood.

"You too." He nodded at Zach and Tonks. Sirius unfolded his arms.

"I'll walk you." He said.

Harry swallowed, wondering if there would be another yelling session. They left the tower and walked towards the staircases. It was close to lunch time, but he didn't feel particularly hungry. Sirius was in deep thought and they walked in silence. Harry focused on the steps, trying to decrypt Sirius's mood.

"Did you go to the camp?" Sirius asked and it startled Harry.

His footsteps faltered and that seemed to answer the question. Sirius's eye narrowed.

"Yes." Harry said.

They set off for another flight of stairs, walking as the whole thing shifted, rotating towards a corridor. It would give them a longer path, but Harry knew that they would be having a conversation all through their walk.

"And you can't tell me why?"

"I'm sorry."

He looked up and caught a frown. Sirius exhaled. "Harry, I can't help you if you don't tell me why you went. You keep sneaking out, it's too dangerous! If there's something important, confide in me!"

"It's not easy, Sirius! I can't tell you."

He glared. "Did someone threaten you?"

In a manner of speaking… "No. I just don't want to expose that world more than I already have."

Harry walked faster, feeling a little anxious. He needed to talk to Trelawney for a start. But with the Aurors patrolling the castle and with Sirius already mad at him, it was unwise. Not to mention, he was quite sure that Hermione and Ron wouldn't let him go after this one.

"Why do you want to get involved in that?" Sirius asked, softly. "We have our own problems, Harry. I know they have trouble looming over, but it's too risky –"

"I made friends there." Harry answered, hoping his voice didn't shake. "And… they have no news about Percy, it worries me. I talked to Chiron and Annabeth, nobody's aware."

The walls had an elaborate carving that twisted in vines and roses. There were no portraits on the sixth floor, thankfully. Harry didn't fancy eavesdroppers.

Sirius fell quiet for a while. Just as they reached the last set of staircases, he said, "Percy's good at what he does. He'll come back. I know everyone's worried. But Harry, the last thing we need is for something to happen to you."

He stopped walking and put a hand on Harry's shoulder, halting him. "I wish you would understand that."

"I do understand it! But I had to go!"

"You haven't given me the real answer. I can tell when you're lying, Harry. Why won't you let me help you?"

"Sirius… just... can you trust me this? Please, just this once. It was important, an emergency. Please?"

The pleading appealed to Sirius. His eyes soften and he gripped his shoulder in a firm hold. Harry stared until his godfather finally sighed and stood up straight.

"I'll let it slide for the last time, Harry. Since we caught you in the grounds… still, it was dangerous, you realize that don't you?"

"Yes." He mumbled.

"Can you promise me that this won't happen again?"

Sirius raised his eyebrows, daring Harry to retaliate and cross question him. Harry bit the inside of his cheek and winced.

"What?"

"Um… my tooth. It sorta aches. Sensitive, I mean."

Sirius blinked. "We're going to London tomorrow. We'll get it checked out."

Something in his tone made Harry uncomfortable. He was also surprised that they'd be going for the session. All indicators suggested that Harry would be indefinitely grounded with detention, but nothing fell upon him.

That was until he entered the Gryffindor common room and caught nearly all the students huddled in groups, talking about the village incident. They stopped and stared when they saw him.

"Good luck." Sirius said, winking. Harry groaned.

* * *

 _Frost, Gretna Green, 12:30 p.m._

The ring and the tiara/crown lay in front of him. The ring had a dull band framing the dark red, almost black gem that was cut in an irregular shape. The circlet was in the shape of a bird with a deep blue jewel embedded in the centre. Percy felt the locket drawn towards the jewellery. There was something heavy and sinister about them. Obviously, it was cursed like the locket, but the specificity escaped him. All Tom said was that they were his treasures.

"So, it's like one ring, one tiara and one locket to rule them all?" Percy asked aloud. Tom was engrossed in the Marauder's Map, tracking all the footsteps and people in the castle. He scowled.

"It's a diadem. Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem. See if you can read the words."

Percy sat legs crossed on his bed as he leaned forwards to squint at the metal band on either side of the stone. There was elegant inscription, but at the first sight it looked more like meaningless curves in an old forgotten language. Percy stared at it, long enough to decipher the first word. It definitely was English if it took him this long.

"Wit Beyonce Measure...?" He gave a guess in a painstaking fashion.

Tom let out a noise of annoyance. "Beyond, Percy! _Wit Beyond Measure is Man's Greatest Treasure_."

"Alright, alright!" Percy groaned. "The letters are tiny. Give me a break. I'm feeling awful and depressed as it is, don't yell."

Tom eyed him, "Depressed? Is that because you killed someone?"

"No, it's because I have a craving for dumpli – YES! IT'S BECAUSE I KILLED SOMEONE!"

Percy stood up, grabbing tufts of his hair and holding them tight. His entire body seemed to ache from the guilt and the pressure. He couldn't stop thinking about it. The utter anger and pain that wracked his body as he had thrown his sword, impaling Crouch point blank, was still present. He didn't even know it was possible to kill someone like that. He hadn't even been thinking clearly.

"You wanted me to kill him." Percy whispered. Tom was seated at a small study desk, leaning against the back of his chair, the map spread out on the desk. He looked immaculate and inhuman as an ominous shadow passed over his face.

"I wanted you to knock him out."

"Don't lie to me. We both heard the prophecy, we know what it means. What are you hiding?"

Percy pushed too far. The locket went hot, pulling at his neck like he had to kneel. He felt bile bubbling in his stomach, threatening to rise. He felt dizzy.

"Stop that."

"Then stop talking nonsense." Tom countered. "The plan didn't go as well as I would have liked, but we did accomplish more than expected." He shook his head. "Dumbledore had found the ring. He'd hidden it in his office. It was an easy find. The Dark Lord must have slipped up at some point for the old man to get so close."

Percy found his bearings gradually. The room stopped spinning but was still swaying. Tom looked at him. "We used a lot of energy today. Sleep."

"I want... answers." Percy hiccuped. He felt sick.

"You'll get them. You don't look well at all now, so later."

The feeling was intense. Percy couldn't stop thinking about Crouch's blank eyes, Mad Eye's blank eyes, the normal and the fake one. He clapped a hand over his mouth and ran for the bathroom, heaving the moment he could pry open the lid of the commode.

After several seconds of upchucking everything he'd had for breakfast, Percy coughed, breathing through his mouth. It felt like he could hear the echoes of his own heart beat all over the empty mansion. He suddenly felt incredibly alone.

He stayed like that for a few minutes before standing on shaky legs and rinsing his mouth.

Think of something else, anything else...

He thought of camp and all its safety. He wondered if Tyson had dropped by like he had promised. Percy imagined his brother hanging more decorations like tiny Christmas ornaments from the ceiling of their cabin. He imagined the sweet jingles of the bronze charms in the soft breeze in harmony with Tyson's giggles at Grover's awkward jokes and braying laugh. He imagined the scents of camp, pine from the trees, strawberry from the fields and lemon from Annabeth as she leaned in, stormy grey eyes turned liquid silver the closer they got, her eyelids closing and lips –

Percy shuddered as the locket lost its painful heat. He leaned against the cool tiles feeling it immensely easier to breathe again. The stress was lost. He still felt the guilt, but he didn't focus on it. After another couple of minutes, Percy felt steady enough to lift his head and look at the mirror cabinet.

He looked awful. There were dark circles under his eyes like he had spent days in a darkened chamber and his skin was a waxy, having lost his summer tan. He looked like a sick white kid...and not just sick at that.

Percy splashed cold water onto his face, absorbing it and willing it to heal him. The bruises under his eyes faded by a few degrees and he sighed again.

After a while, he stumbled back to his room. He hungry, but didn't think there was any food in the kitchen or his bag. It didn't matter. He needed to sleep. He gripped the walls and made his way back to his room. He collapsed on the bed, upsetting everything that had been on it including the ring and the diadem. They clattered to the floor and he blearily watched the ring rolled away to some corner. He couldn't care less.

In the back of his mind, he saw something odd. Or rather, he didn't see something that was supposed to be there. The room was devoid of Tom. The map lay on the desk but there was no one on the chair in front of it. The locket was quiet.

* * *

 _Ministry of Magic, 12:30 p.m._

"Minister." Sirius greeted him. He watched as Cornelius Fudge looked up from his papers on his desk. Fudge looked stressed. He was sweating as he took of his bowler hat and placed it in front of him.

"Mr. Black." He said. "Come in. Are you here to pick up Ms. Granger?"

"Yes. How is she?"

"The Healers have checked her. She's fine. The Headmaster is with her now. Inform him that I need to speak with him."

"Absolutely. But if I may... I have something for you."

Fudge glared. "You may have enough time in the world, Black. But some of us actually do need to work. I am very busy –"

"With PR, I suppose. I have the report on Crouch. Kingsley asked me to drop them. The Aurors have secured the village. They checked everyone's wand and finished the final analysis of the crime scene."

"And?" Fudge sat up straight. "Was it the Killing Curse? Have you found the culprit?"

"No and no." Sirius sat down, pulling out a file of hastily written reports. "There was incredible pressure on the heart. Crouch's last moments were of intense pain, focused on the chest. Everything seemed fine, but the Coroner detected reparations done on his body."

"Reparations? On a dead body? Someone killed him physically and then healed the body?" Fudge sat stunned. "Is that possible?"

"Apparently it is. Lancoris supplied the statement. So far, they found out that some of his ribs had been broken and his arteries had burst from the pressure. But it was all healed of course so they have no idea as to what weapon could have killed him. But that's only part of the problem."

Sirius flipped open the file and took out one of the pages. "The room was completely clean of evidence. The owner was found unconscious. There was evidence of the Imperious curse used on him, but every wand that was checked in the village passed the test. The killer escaped when the panic curse struck."

The page had two photos, one of the room under scrutiny by a team of forensic experts and the other of the Aurors cross examining the villagers and even some students.

Fudge swallowed visibly. "Have you found Moody?"

"Yes. He was in his trunk for months. When we check the office, we saw him trying to drag himself out. He had nearly made it too. He's in the Hospital Wing for now. Repeated Imperious slowed his brain down, but we guessed that the moment Crouch died, the spell broke. He must have woken up and gotten out."

Sirius remembered watching the once brave, sturdy man reduced to a frail breathless patient. Mad Eye would be shifted to St. Mungo's soon. Nobody expected a swift recovery.

"If Barty Crouch Jr. was a spy for You-Know-Who, why was he killed?" Fudge muttered. Sirius barely stopped himself from retorting unfavourably.

"It may not have been a Death Eater or any supporter of Voldemort."

Fudge flinched at the name but Sirius kept speaking like nothing happened. "Kingsley suspects someone found out about the deception and went after Crouch themselves. A vigilant."

"We can't condone this." Fudge spluttered. "Vigilancy has no place here!"

"Say what you will, but people aren't exactly broken over him. We lost a potential Death Eater to interrogate, but the public will laud the act." Sirius warned.

"More people might decide to take the law into their own hands after this!"

"Probably. But if we outright condemn this, they will retaliate. Crouch was a Death Eater, the Dark Mark on his arm proved it. Kingsley has his team searching all possible modes of how he would have passed information onto Voldemort. The public will not worry about a Death Eater's death. Only Voldemort will. And you know his temper."

Fudge winced again. He moaned. "Nearly fourteen months. His impersonation fooled even Dumbledore. He will face more flak for this than any of us, Black. I have to ready the Ministry for the press interrogation tomorrow. The papers are already printing the story. If we handle this poorly, we'll see more of individual reckless acts like this! Whoever this vigilant was, they killed him and healed the body to clear up any tracks. That is incredible magic."

"It is." Sirius said, looking at the rest of the photos. "Who is the spokesperson for tomorrow?"

"Madam Bones and myself. I intend to ask Dumbledore, but if he does not agree, I want you to step up in his place."

Sirius stared. "Me? I'm sorry, Minister, but I have an appointment –"

"You have something to do that is more important that this mess!?" Fudge snapped.

"I consider my ward important, yes."

"Your ward, Harry Potter. I was informed he had strayed away into the forest, of all places. Does he want to be captured?"

Sirius gritted his teeth but spoke as politely as he could, "He was wandering near Rubeus Hagrid's house. That is within Hogwarts boundaries. He did not break any rule by not going to Hogsmeade."

"Then why was he disguised?"

"He likes to be invisible sometimes. "

"Yes, I suppose the fame gets to him." The sarcasm was sharp and distasteful. Sirius stopped short of glaring at him. "He has a healer's appointment in London tomorrow morning. I have to accompany him, or would you rather he goes by himself?"

"Is it a physical ailment?"

Sirius thought of Harry complaining about his tooth. "Absolutely."

Fudge exhaled, annoyed. "Fine. If Dumbledore refuses, I will find someone else. And you can tell your ward that if he wants to wander about, he will be assigned a protection detail."

Harry would love that. Sirius gave him a thin smile and nodded. "Good day, Minister."

The PR would be a nightmare if tomorrow went awry. Sirius wondered if he should be at the event, but then decided that his social skills did not extend to placating the public from acting in frenzy.

Dumbledore was walking with Hermione towards the elevators. Sirius caught them just before they stepped into one.

"Ah, Sirius. I was worried we'd miss you." Dumbledore greeted him. Hermione just raised a hand, clearly in deep thought. She didn't seem hurt.

"How are you?" Sirius asked. She was jarred by the abrupt question.

"Oh... yes, I'm okay. I just... I just need to lie down I think."

"If you feel any discomfort, do not hesitate to ask Poppy, Ms. Granger. Sirius will lead you to the castle."

"Right." Sirius nodded. "Fudge is waiting for you, Albus."

Dumbledore looked tired. It was a familiar expression on his face and Sirius was just beginning to wonder how much responsibility he had to shoulder.

"I'll see you later, then." He agreed.

"Good bye, Professor." Hermione chimed. She was rubbing her temples as Dumbledore left them by the elevators. A group of officials exited the one beside them and Sirius held it open for her to get in.

"Do you have a headache, Hermione?"

"Not exactly. It feels heavy, though." She replied and he was just about to close the doors when a woman rushed in yelling, "Mr. Black! Mr. Black, just a sec!"

He grabbed the iron grate doors from shutting and pulled them open again. The lift shuddered for moment. The newcomer was a short, pale faced woman in dark green robes. Her dark hair was in a disarray and her robes flailed around her boots as she stopped in front of them.

"Hello. I'm so sorry for the suddenness but... " She took a great gasp of breath. "Is Albus Dumbledore with you?"

"I'm sorry, he left not a minute ago. He'll be at the Minister's office." Sirius told her, wondering which department she was from.

"I need to... will you come with me?!" She asked, switching her response. Sirius sighed. "I'm sorry, Ms. ...?"

"Cattermole. I'm from the Department of Security. We have just finished examining the wards surrounding the school from last week's incident. I can't write this down, but since you will be going back to the castle, you could take a message for me. It will be quick, Mr. Black."

She had stopped panting and stood up straight. Cattermole was just about Hermione's height yet the urgency in her eyes spoke lengths to what she needed.

"I need to drop off a student actually –"

"I know her. Hermione Granger, right?" Cattermole shook Hermione's hand vigorously. "This is very important, Mr. Black. Mr. Bode is very persistent to let the Headmaster know about it and since you are in the Order –"

Sirius wanted to strangle the woman. Announce it, why don't you?

"If it's important, I can wait." Hermione said.

"But I think you need to go to Madam Pomfrey, Hermione." Sirius said, holding the door to the lift again.

"We found a link in the shield." Cattermole hissed. Her eyes widened from her own words.

Sirius stared at her, baffled. A link in the... a weakness?

"You mean, you know how the intruder got in?"

"Mr. Bode believes so."

"Bode... Do you mean, Broderick Bode?"

She nodded and Sirius honestly wished she hadn't. Broderick Bode was an Unspeakable, who worked in the Department of Mysteries, in the Hall of Prophecies. The Order had applied to him and the other Unspeakables when they needed to remove Harry's prophecy from the hall without triggering any traps.

He turned to look at Hermione who seemed interested, as she always did with new information.

"You must make it quick." Sirius told Cattermole. She grinned and said, "Yes, of course, Mr. Black. Follow me."

They went back into the lift and went to Level 8. Hermione had stopped touching her head, so he hoped she wasn't in pain. He was at least glad that Cattermole hadn't mentioned about Hermione's adverse reaction to the village attack.

They got out on the floor and walked towards the Department of Security. It was rare when an Unspeakable worked with other sections, but it always meant something vital. What would Bode do with a link in security measures?

The Department of Security was a large hall with several counters and people working behind them. There were large cabinets and desks in a closed off section, walled by glass, on the opposite end of the room, but Cattermole led them towards a door to the right that opened into a smaller room where only two people sat, looking through mounds of paper files.

Sirius recognized the tall, dark skinned man with tufts of greying hair that stood up like he was sleep deprived all the time. Bode stood up and instead shaking his hand, shoved a bunch of parchment sheets to him.

"Hold this." He told Sirius and started digging through the pile. "Eloise, where did I keep the Latin notes?"

"By the books. Over here." The other person in the room was a woman, sallow skinned with thin lips. Eloise extracted a few pages from beneath a stack of books half buried under the massive pile.

"Dumbledore left?" Bode asked Cattermole in a harsh tone.

"Don't snap at me. He's with Fudge. Sirius Black is just as reliable."

"Oh I know how reliable Black is." He mumbled. Sirius frowned. "What was so important that you had to visit the Department of Security, Bode?"

Bode snorted. "I visit a lot of departments as often as I can. I don't need to talk about my job while making acquaintances. Thanks, Eloise. Look at this, Black."

He offered Sirius the notes, open at a dog eared page. Sirius had his hands full with sheets and tilted his head to read the script. It was Latin and he recognized only a few words.

"Is this a prophecy about security break-ins?" he asked.

Bode bristled. Then his eyes fell on Hermione.

"You. Granger, Earth core, am I right?"

"Yes." Hermione mumbled.

"You can read Latin, can't you? Read it for reliable Mr. Black."

Sirius dumped the sheets onto an empty corner of the table as Hermione took the offered pages and read in Latin. He couldn't understand most of what she said.

"It's talking about _natural_ spells?" She asked, hesitantly.

"Natural? Are you sure? My first attempt came up with _native_." Bode said, searching through more sheets now.

Hermione read the short passage again. "It's like a monologue. Whoever wrote this, talks about spells that cannot be... changed... or influenced by anything. They remain in their natural state as much as possible... it's like inert spells, but very powerful..."

"It is a monologue." Eloise confirmed. "It was written by Cassandra Trelawney during one of her trance-like states.

Bode looked up. "Mary, can I trust you to not say this to anyone for the time being?"

"Yes, of course."

"Then lock the door, things said in the room should be privy to unscrupulous characters. Granger, keep talking."

Hermione blinked. "Wait, did you say Cassandra Trelawney?"

"Yes. She was one of the very few women who had true Seer powers. Not many exist now."

Sirius frowned. "But what does this mean, spells that are impervious to all kinds of magic?"

"Impervious is a good term. But a proper translation would mean 'unaffected'." Eloise said.

Hermione nodded. "I think so too. Spells that remain unaffected no matter all offense... oh..."

"What?" Everyone asked.

Hermione stared at the page for a while. "It seems... it talks of two kinds of spells. See, there's a pause here."

She showed Bode and Eloise something in the passage. Sirius and Cattermole leaned in. There were not one but two paragraphs written so closely to each other they blended too well.

"And it isn't 'spell' as such." She continued. "It talks about two kinds of magic, one kind 'unaffected' by all offence and the other kind 'unaffected' by all defence."

"Offence as in all offensive spells?" Sirius asked, something suddenly clicking in his head. "All offensive curses?"

"I'm more interested in the other kind. The magic that is unaffected by all defensive enchantments. The wards used on the castle boundaries have the seven fold Vervion protection. Cassandra Trelawney's words aren't something to dismiss. If anything pierced through the wards, it is something of this nature." Bode surmised, dropping into his chair and exhaling. He closed his eyes while Sirius and Hermione shared a look.

"Erm. Ms. Eloise?" Hermione asked. Eloise smiled at her.

"Yes, dear?"

"Do you really place much stock with all trance-written words? Can some not be true or have some or the other fault with them?"

"Of course. Not all _revered_ words are true. Prophecies can be given only by those who truly have the astral connections, the Inner Eye, as some would call it. A Seer in layman terms. Bode is a believer in Cassandra Trelawney so he places value in that."

"Trelawney was a great woman. The world lost a faultless soul the day she passed and you cannot convince me otherwise. There are many quacks and pretenders but she was one for the generations." Bode murmured, eyes closed.

"And what about Lily Evans?" Sirius asked.

Bode's head snapped up at the name. Sirius felt Hermione's shocked gaze tuned to him.

"Evans? She never came in for an evaluation, that's what I heard. But if the rumours were true, then it was a loss for all of wizardkind."

Sirius nodded slowly. Lily had her visions, some so real that she felt she was in a different place and time. He remembered the times when her eyes would glaze over and she couldn't be perturbed even if a cauldron exploded beside her. One of her visions was so persistent she had convinced James to travel with her to Egypt of all places.

Hermione cleared her throat and offered Bode the pages. He took it to read the passage again. She said, "It feels like a leap to assume that the words of a woman who lived in the nineteenth century would come true now."

Bode looked like she'd hit him. Sirius pressed his lips together to keep from laughing. Eloise cracked a smile. "It may feel like that... but you're working under the assumption that the progression to cause and effect is seamless. We have a thousand factors to account for, none more than the fact that magic sometimes need less explanation and more belief for it to function."

"You mean blind belief." Hermione countered.

"I mean, understanding something without the need for a rationalization."

"But that takes away the essence of logic itself! If we don't have the answer to something, it just means it hasn't yet been understood. Divination may be a woolly subject because the layman cannot understand it not because there is no explanation!"

"Alright, Hermione. I think we'd better be going. I'll tell Dumbledore about this and let's see what his verdict is, shall we?"

Sirius watched in amusement as Hermione, red faced, nodded stiffly and marched out the room. Bode still looked speechless and Eloise grinned. "I can't wait to see what career she'll pursue. She'll take the Ministry by storm, I'm sure."

Cattermole giggled at Bode's expression. Sirius winked and left, catching up to Hermione. As they reached the Atrium to floo to McGonagall's office, he couldn't help but think of the Trelawney's words. _Unaffected magic_.

It felt similar, heart-wrenchingly similar to Harry's case. Some sort of divine intervention had seemingly brought him back from the dead, not once, but twice, as though he was unaffected by the killing curse or a falling building. But he wasn't impervious to other spells. Sirius was sure that Hermione was right, but Cassandra Trelawney's powers had been legendary, influencing even non believers of the Divination arts.

So... hypothetically considering, if Harry was magically impervious... unaffected by offensive magic, then someone could also have the magic to be unaffected by all sorts of defences. Which meant, according to Bode, the intruder apparently just walked right through the wards and summoned the map from DJ's trunk.

It sounded outlandish... but still...

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed this. Stay tuned for more!**

 **Q: Why does Hermione not believe in Divination?**

 **Cabba.**


	25. Home

**A: Hermione doesn't believe in Divination mostly because she doesn't understand it. The subject has no logical reasoning to it in her mind. Not to mention, Trelawney's poor rapport with her contributed to her dropping it altogether.**

 **Catie Cat, ShadeofDeath746 and Sherlock Harry Winchester, you're all right about Hermione. Luna always said her weakness was her difficulty in accepting other viewpoints that clashed with her own.**

 **Warning – Brainwashing.**

 **Listening – Roots by Imagine Dragons**

* * *

 _Friday, Oct 5,  
Hogwarts, 1:00 p.m._

"I'd heard that someone _died_."

"Bollocks!"

Harry looked up at the ceiling, wishing he could get out. It was lunch time, but most of the Gryffindors were still mingling in the Common Room gossiping about what happened in the village.

"They were checking all the sixth and seventh years' wands!"

"Yeah, what was that about?"

Ron and Harry sat on the couch in one corner of the room. There was barely enough space for three people. Between the two fifth years sat Cormac McLaggen, a broad shouldered sixth year with an ego complex.

"The Aurors were trying to find out who hexed the entire village." McLaggen said, raising both hands and dropping them on the backrest behind Harry and Ron's heads. "Jeez, I don't know whether to be thankful for the stampede or not, it saved me from having to eat doxy eggs."

Ron scowled. "Doxy eggs? What for?"

"A neat little bet for fifty galleons. Leanne thought I'd chicken out. I would have eaten an entire pound of the stuff."

McLaggen looked strangely proud of that fact. Harry shared a look of confusion with Ron.

"That's… wow." Neville muttered shaking his head in amazement. He was seated on one of the arm chairs opposite them.

"Moving on…" Parvati continued pointedly. "Cho said that it was a mass hysteric attack on the village. It was a distraction from something. That's what the Aurors were trying to find."

"Well, I hope they did or else we won't have any more Hogsmeade trips." Colin said and everyone groaned and booed.

"They can't do that!" Fred cried. "How are we going to avail sponsors then?! Through the post?"

"Project still on, huh?" Angelina asked.

"Yes, of course it is! Angie, you can't just ask confusing questions like that!"

"What project?" DJ asked, finally speaking up. He had stayed quiet the entire time since Harry had entered the room. He was fuming, upset at him for not having said anything. DJ knew that he had gone to the States.

"Their little joke shop. The funny part is that it'll end up being a joke." McLaggen snorted.

George gave him a frosty glare. "You're a real funny bloke, McLaggen. How come I haven't heard of you before?"

"How can you talk about joke shops when there was a stampede in the village?!" Lavender asked, shrilly. "People can die in stampedes, did you know!?"

"Yeah… but no one died, Lavender. Calm down." Seamus said in what he thought was a placating voice.

She simmered. "Wait till the post tomorrow. I'll bet you something awful happened. Cho said it was all a distraction. She must have talked to Cedric Diggory who is an Auror, you know?"

"Diggory's a trainee!" Ron said, but Harry backed her. "No, she's right. Cedric was there in the village during the whole thing."

McLaggen smirked at him. "I'd heard he was the one who caught you, Potter. What were you doing alone on the grounds, anyway?"

"Tree climbing." Harry said, looking away. "And it was Tonks I ran into not Cedric."

"You're real cozy with Diggory, aren't you?"

Harry felt his face grow hot. "Why, you jealous?"

Half the room snorted.

The portrait hole swung open and Hermione climbed in. She looked neat and collected compared to how Ron had described the experience. When the first wave of panic hit them, Hermione had reacted badly, causing tremors in the ground. It had gotten so dire that she had used her crystal to transport her to a safe location.

"You're in her seat." Ron told McLaggen. The latter snorted again, "Seriously?"

"Get. Up." Harry said, glaring at him so intensely that McLaggen finally stopped smiling and vacated the spot. Hermione walked over and collapsed between them.

Someone's stomach grumbled loudly. Lee looked at Fred. "Alright, I'm going down for lunch before I get eaten..."

Fred made exaggerated spluttering noises as some others burst out laughing. Slowly, people started moving towards the portrait hole till there were only seven students left in the Common Room.

DJ folded his arms and moved from his spot on the floor to where Neville had been sitting. He faced Harry head on and said, "Tell me everything. Now."

Harry didn't really know where to begin. Thankfully, Hermione interrupted. "Luna, what're doing here?"

Luna had blended in with the Gryffindors (seeing as how nobody had worn their uniforms today), sitting next to Colin and Ginny on the sofa facing the hearth. They were kneeling, having turned around on their seats to look across the room at DJ.

"I didn't want to be alone." She said.

Ginny raised her head. "Forget about that, Hermione. Tell us everything you know! What happened?"

Ron turned his head to look at Harry and Hermione. "Anyone hungry? Let's go –"

"NO!" DJ and Ginny yelled. "No more secrets, Harry. Where were you?"

Harry's nostrils flared and he looked over at Colin and Luna pointedly. DJ looked over to them and sighed. "Tell them too. There's no one else."

"We can't – DJ! Too many people already know!"

"If you won't, then I will!" DJ turned around and Harry started. "You wouldn't dare!"

"Percy and Nico are dem –" Harry pounced, slapping a palm over his mouth. DJ's voice was muffled but he glared at Harry who then yanked away his hand, shaking it vigorously.

"Yuck, DJ!"

"Demigods!" DJ announced. Harry took out his wand and pointed it at DJ saying, " _Silencio_!"

Colin choked. "...what?"

"Demigods." Luna repeated. "So Percy is not a merman?"

"A mer... no, Luna. He's... he's not a demigod, he's nothing! I mean he's human, he..."

It wasn't working. Colin was blinking rapidly, mouth gaping. "Demi-gods...? What? I don't know, what's a demi-god?"

"I suppose it means 'demi' as in half and 'god' as in god with a lower case 'g'." Luna observed.

DJ punched Harry's arm. He pointed to his throat angrily. Harry clipped him on the head. "Idiot! What the hell, DJ!?"

"Demi- _gods_?" Colin said again as Ginny face planted on the couch. "Wait, you're all serious?"

Harry gritted his teeth and stood up, marching towards the stairs to check for eavesdroppers. The tower was empty as far as he could see. He swore, wishing for the map.

Hermione took pity on DJ and reversed the curse. DJ gave a gasp and then spun around, "If you won't tell us what you were up to, I'll find out! You went to their camp, didn't you? To New York!"

"Shut up, DJ. I'm warning you!"

"Demi... what's going on?" Colin asked, finally looking at Harry who groaned.

"Yeah, I don't think we're going for lunch." Ron sighed. DJ walked towards Harry.

"Why did you go? And why wouldn't you tell me?"

Harry stepped back. "Honestly, it was a split second decision. I had to... talk to someone."

"To Percy." Hermione guessed.

"No, they haven't found him yet. We think he's on a quest, but he hadn't recruited anyone, that's what worries me."

DJ exhaled roughly. "You went to search for him?"

If Harry agreed with that statement, then the conversation would be over and he wouldn't have to explain about the Oracle's sighting and his own mission. It would be fine.

And yet... he was tired of keeping secrets. He looked at everyone who was watching him. Colin still seemed incredulous, Luna was calm. Ginny was curious and DJ resigned. Hermione and Ron were expectant and everyone was waiting for him to confirm it.

"Not... exactly." He said slowly. Then he inhaled and steeled himself. "Do you know what an oracle is?"

They looked at each other. "A Seer." Hermione answered. "Greek mythology has had oracles... I guess they are real."

"The camp has one. The Oracle wants me to find someone. She said... to find..." His patron. Trelawney wasn't his patron, but she was his first choice so he had to start with her.

"A real Seer?" Luna asked, highly interested. Her large eyes widened to the point that she may never blink again. "A Seer who sees the future?"

"Wait, like Alice?" Ron asked.

"Alice is clairvoyant." Hermione explained. "If she had been a witch, that would have been her sole core, there's something very specific in her magic. She can see what may happen based on your actions and decisions now. A Seer sees the future no matter what you may decide now. In a way, that is more dangerous because those who ask for answers can get stuck on a terrible path to a tragic destiny."

Thanks Hermione.

"So, you went to the Oracle and ... what? She gave you your tragic future or something?" DJ asked.

"I don't need an Oracle for that!" Harry scoffed. "I just had a feeling, so I went there and she told me to search for someone and now,... I need to ask Trelawney something."

They stared. Hermione was first to laugh. "Trelawney! Harry, anyone who's spoken with her knows that she's no Seer, or even clairvoyant! She's a fake! Her ancestor may have had those powers, but she doesn't."

"Really? Who's her ancestor?"

"Cassandra Trelawney." Hermione rolled her eyes. "She's a confirmed soothsayer. Alright fine, some people may have prophecy giving powers like the Oracle, but not the Divination professor."

And yet, she's given two prophecies, both of them repeated by the Oracle. Harry gave a shaky sigh. "Doesn't matter. She's the only one who I know has visions and stuff. If you can give any other options, I'm open to them. If there's anyone in the castle who has the slightest psychic powers, let me know."

Luna raised her hand. Harry nodded. "Yes, Luna?"

"What about you, Harry? Do you have visions?"

He froze. Did he? He couldn't remember if he'd ever had anything like that. He had odd dreams but that was it, right?

"No... I don't think so..."

"Alright, I was just asking because Seer powers can be inherited." She said.

"Okay...?"

Hermione gasped so violently that Ron jumped. "Oh!"

"What! What!" he yelled.

She stared at Luna with wide eyes. "How do you know?!"

Luna raised her eyebrows. "About Lillian? My mother used to talk about her. How do you know?"

"What are you both talking about?" Ron complained, clutching at his heart.

Hermione looked up at Harry. The way she stared at him made his skin prickle in an uncomfortable manner. Lillian? He had a feeling the answer was closer to home.

* * *

Saturday, Oct. 6th  
Dynasty, Manhattan, 12:00 a.m.

 _Rachel was home._

 _Her house in Aquitaine was a Chateau of epic proportions. It had a sprawling landscape that seemed to form its own world. The gardens had their divisions of floral, wild plants, vegetable plants, trees, etc. There were four fountains planted exactly at a fifty metre distance from the house. If she walked in long arcs from one fountain to the other, she would track a perfect circle._

 _The Chateau itself was a large and lovely set of buildings. The main block held the visiting rooms, living rooms, and garages all furnished with top of the line fixtures. The second wing held kitchens, the guest rooms, the gymnasium and sports room, large enough to fit a squash court. The third wing was for parents and her. Their section was offices and the master bedroom with an attached grand bathroom containing a Jacuzzi, and a small bar. Her room was simple. It was divided into three parts. Her bedroom, walk in closet and art room._

 _Rachel Elizabeth Dare did not know the worldly meaning of the term 'simple'. To her, these lands had been her home for more than a decade. It was the place she'd known solitude and had learnt to draw and paint. It was the place she learnt how to swim, conquering her hydrophobia. It was where her parents had sat her down and told her she was adopted. It was where she had cried and learned what a home really was. It was more than blood._

 _The sight of her real home vanished and Rachel was blinking at the sight of a ruined home, blackened by some old explosion. A simple two storeyed house with a small garden on either sides. The right part of the first floor had been completely blown away._

 _The house disappeared and Rachel found herself looking at her apartment building in Manhattan. She remembered how she'd hated it at first, but slowly grew attached to it. Right now, she was looking at her room,_ _ **completely destroyed, all her paintings melting from the roaring flames that threatened to engulf the entire building.**_

 _This scene flickered and was replaced with a huge castle. It was a towering structure with grey and brown stone walls and green grounds and a black lake and a green forest and a blue sky._ _ **The castle was on fire, half of one side collapsed.**_

 _Suddenly, she was looking at a smaller apartment. Percy's house._ _ **There was a large gaping hole on one side of the walls as though an explosion had taken place. She saw a shattered tea table and a broken lava lamp dripping onto the burning rug.**_

 _It changed again and she saw Camp Half-Blood._ _ **This suffered the worst destruction. Nothing was alive. The air was a dull grey. Ash fell softly, coating the place. The fields had been razed to the ground. The forest had been completely burnt, the cabins were all broken and empty and the Big House was destroyed.**_

 _Amidst all the debris, there was something glowing in the centre. A green haze filled her vision. Rachel walked towards the centre. Her footsteps seemed to echo in the dead surroundings. She saw what was glowing._

 _It was a mummy. An actual mummy with dirty long bandages. Its eyes were glowing green. Rachel leaned down and looked directly into them._

" _ **Your home will be gone."**_ _The mummy told her. It had a strange voice, so heavy and layered she couldn't tell if it was male or female, just divine._

" _No." Rachel shook her head._

" _ **Janus will come to you. What will you choose?"**_

" _I don't know what is Janus."_

" _ **What will you choose, Rachel Elizabeth Dare? Your family? Or your friends?"**_

" _What? What did you say?"_

 _The eyes stopped glowing. The mummy was dead_. Rachel stood up and saw that she was in her room again.

She looked around. In her hand was her HB pencil, gripped so tightly, her fist ached.

"Bolt?" She whispered.

"I'm right here." Bolt spoke from the bean bag. Her little familiar was a puppy but she needed a hug. Bolt turned into a tiger and Rachel sat on the bed, her body shaking. Bolt climbed over her, careful to not put weight. Rachel wrapped her arms around her, feeling her golden pelt settle on her skin. She tried to relax.

"I wasn't day dreaming, was I?" She asked.

"No. You were standing there and you weren't actually here." Bolt let out a purr to soothe her.

"What's wrong with me, Bolt?"

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I'm right here, Rachel. Don't worry."

"It was all gone. Did you see? All those houses were destroyed. And Camp. That was gone too. And that mummy... Bolt, who's Janus? What's the choice? Why did I see all that...?"

Her words dissolved into a blubbering mess and she sniffled, burying her face into the fur behind Bolt's head. It was terrifying and confusing. She hadn't understood one bit of what happened. Why would she have to choose between her family and friends? Why couldn't she have them all?

* * *

 _Sunday, Oct. 7_ _th_ _  
Frost, Gretna Green, 3:00 p.m._

Percy woke up from a long and dreamless sleep. And he really needed to visit the bathroom.

It was a few minutes later when he stumbled back into his bedroom and leaned against the wall when he realized how hungry he was. His thirst had overpowered him into drinking tap water, but now he ransacked his room searching for food. He found an unopened pack of store bought brown cookies, stuffed away in a drawer and munched them down without a second thought.

Once something settled in his stomach, he looked around the room. Tom sat at the chair, in front of the still open map.

"You were practically dead to the world." He said in a monotone.

Percy didn't even have the energy to frown. He felt sick and dizzy, collapsing to his knees as his legs felt useless. He sat against his bed, groaning silently.

"It's Sunday in case you're wondering." Tom continued. "You were supposed to be back by Friday."

" S tired." He murmured.

"Yes, and who's fault was that!?"

Yours, Percy thought. Tom scoffed.

"Don't put that on me. If you'd followed the plan, everything would have been perfect. And now, you're stuck here with no food and ambrosia."

Percy felt a strange force work its way up from his gut. For a moment he was worried he'd throw up, but then he realized that it was his frustration that was welling over. He was angry, furious with Tom.

He was afraid.

Tom tilted his head. His eyes glittered. "So many uncontrolled emotions. And you call yourself a leader."

Percy closed his eyes, wishing he was asleep. At least, that way he would be away from Tom.

 _Where'd you go? You weren't there when I collapsed from absolute exhaustion._

"You need to have some energy for me to manifest into a form you can see. Otherwise, I'd be in your head all the time." Tom explained. "And that would be a bad idea seeing as you're supposed to have only your patron's voice within your mind."

Percy wondered what would happen if his dad found about him. Tom would be in trouble wouldn't he?

There was a hiss of displeasure. "You owe me for Nico, Percy."

"And... I helped you." Percy rasped. He made to get up, feeling pins and needles in his limbs. "I got you into the castle, you got your treasures. Now we part ways."

Tom didn't even blink. But Percy knew that expression, he was recalculating his odds.

"Alright. How about this? I'll help you find Grover."

The age old ache started up again. His entire body trembled with an empty mind link. Percy closed his eyes, unconsciously reaching out, yelling 'Grover' into the void. There was no response.

"He's not dead." Tom continued. "But I have some conjectures as to where he might be. But again, I'll need your help in return."

Of course he did. Percy opened his eyes and glared at him. "May be I won't need you. May be I can find him on my own."

"You'll fail." Tom stood up, sneering down at him from across the room. Percy clenched his jaw and straightened up. His anger was melting energy back into his bones.

"Why should I side with you? I can't even trust you! You're Voldemort! I _shouldn't_ be trusting you!"

Percy reached around his neck to grab at the chain of the accursed locket. He ripped it from his bloodied skin and threw it on the floor where it landed next to the diadem. He could feel its heat even from the distance.

And just like that, he felt clear. The certainty of his own ability that he could find Grover, hail and hearty and hungry, all on his own. He didn't need Tom. He was confident of his powers. He was so sure of it. How could he ever let Tom decide anything for him? Tom was Voldemort. He was the bad guy here, Why was Percy siding with him? Why was he even thinking about this?

"Because you needed me." Tom replied. "Nico was dying. I'm a healer. I healed him. There's nothing right or wrong about that."

"And then you used my debt to further your own needs." Percy retaliated. "And that was wrong."

"I helped you, you helped me. That's balance, Percy." Tom walked towards him. "This childish attitude of attributing actions to good and bad will be your pressure point."

"Childish? You have no problem with killing people! I do! There's a distinction there, don't you think?"

"Is it really immoral to kill a murderer? Aren't you saving people by doing that?"

Percy shook his head. "I don't want to get into a morality debate with you of all people. You'll twist everything. Killing murderers is still 'murder'."

Tom glowered. His palms were lit with strange red and black shimmers. Percy had seen this before a few times. His magic had colours.

"Did you forget what I'd explained before?" Tom asked quietly. "Gabe was a monster and so was Crouch."

"It doesn't make it right to kill them."

"I don't see you traumatized from all the other monsters kills you've done. What's your record? A hundred? Two hundred?"

Percy swallowed harshly. There were holes in his logic but that was how the world ran.

"I am talking about humans."

Tom scoffed. "So if I kill you now… if you die, it's not a tragedy? It's no great loss?"

Percy wasn't sure how to respond to that. He struggled with his words before saying, "What I'm trying to tell you is that I can't get over the fact that you made me kill them."

Tom stopped. He stared at Percy in shock. "I… did not make you do anything! You chose to kill them!"

Percy's jaw dropped. "Excuse you! You said I had to kill Gabe! Then you just stood back and let Crouch curse me!"

"Percy, I was trying to help you! Did you ever wonder why Nico was down there in the first place?"

"He… was searching for Gabe…"

"Because Gabe had _escaped_ from the Underworld." Tom emphasized the word. "And who do you think would have told Nico to find him? Who would have given him those orders?"

Stiffly, "His father."

"Exactly. So what do you think his mission was? Find out if Gabe was doing alright, help him get into a hospital or the AA?"

Percy was breathing hard. He understood where Tom was going with this. "No."

"No." Tom repeated. "A good bet would be that his father had ordered him to deliver the escaped soul back to the Underworld. And how would he deliver?"

Tom stepped closer to a shaking Percy. "Nico had orders to kill a human. You did that for him. You took that burden from an eleven year old child. Just like what you're doing with the prophecy."

Percy looked away. He hadn't thought about it like that. He'd done the job so that Tom wouldn't delay in healing Nico. But when it was put like that…

"You did a good thing. Gabe wasn't fit for a second chance even if you tried to justify it like that. He'd chosen to be a terrible person in whatever role he undertook, be it husband, father, or friend. In the end, he was none of those, just a set of bad memories that everyone wanted to forget."

Tom paused and the silence was overwhelming. Percy couldn't get his voice out of his head, echoing those words again and again.

"Still… what about Crouch?" Percy whispered, wanting to stop the validation. It didn't feel right, yet it sounded that way.

"Crouch was a murderer, a torturer, and a Death Eater who had absolute loyalty to Voldemort. An incredibly dangerous combination even if you don't include the fact that he was a very skilled wizard. You did the world a favour."

Tom placed a hand on his shoulder, squeezing softly. Percy forced himself to not pull away.

"But he could have given the Order a lot of information. He could have told us a lot. And he still deserved a trial – "

"Do you really think that?" Tom asked, sounding surprised.

"Yes! Everyone deserves a fair trial. Sirius –"

"Sirius's case was different. Barty Crouch Sr. sent several people to Azkaban without trial on mere suspicion. Prior to being arrested, he had no red marks on his record with the Ministry. The signs were all there, people just didn't check them. They were assuaged with the Dark lord's downfall that everyone took a break and did nothing. Crouch Jr. had his trial. He had the evidence against him, his father recognized the lies he told to the court, he got his verdict fourteen years ago and it was guilty. Your 'innocent until proven guilty' method condemns Crouch to an eternity of punishment starting with death. You delivered the sentence. There's nothing more to it."

Percy took a stepped back. "I'm not a punisher." He said, horrified.

Tom sighed, shaking his head. "No, you're a destroyer. The notion of the destroyer is misinterpreted time and again. We have several meanings to the word. If you read it optimistically, it means to destroy evil and let the good flourish… of course that is a very naïve way of looking at it."

Percy stared as Tom smiled. "There is no such thing as good and evil, Percy. There's just the powerful and the weak. Those in power win. They succeed, they are the heroes, they write history. The weak are trivialized, made villains and discarded. Stories are given to you by the winners."

"History is about fact." Percy muttered, but it sounded so weak, he might have said nothing at all.

Tom didn't say anything for a while. He pressed his lips together and tilted his head. A fringe fell over his eyes. "If Luke Castellan stood in front of you, what would you do?"

He frowned.

"Would you kill him? Would you wait and ask him how possession under a Titan Lord is? Would you knock him out and drag him to camp?"

"Camp!" Percy blurted. "I'd take him to camp."

"He's an excellent swordsman. It's more likely he would attack you … realistically, he would kill you."

"But –"

"Yes, I know. Annabeth believes him to be redeemable." Tom wrinkled his nose. "But you've never believed that, have you? Luke would kill Annabeth if the Titan ordered him to."

Percy flinched. He made fists of his hands.

"He would kill Thalia and Grover too." Tom continued. "In fact, I'm sure he's the one who took Grover hostage. He doesn't care about camp anymore, Percy. He would rather tear down each cabin and burn everything with everyone inside. You know it."

The anger was making him shake. Percy's throat closed.

Tom raised an eyebrow. "Nobody would question you if you declared that you would kill him. So murder is justifiable."

"That's not murder, it's… if it's a fight…"

"Don't say self defence, Percy." Tom had the nerve to laugh. He walked towards the window. "If you think killing Luke is self defence, then I have another story for you. It's one that you know but told from a different perspective. Say for example, you heard that someone was going to kill you, what would you do?"

Percy rubbed the back of his neck. His quivering fingers felt the raw skin. "I'd arm myself… be prepared…"

"And…?" Tom asked, folding his arms. "Wouldn't you want to know who your would-be murderer is? Wouldn't you seek them out?"

"…maybe… but that… being curious would just make me more paranoid." Percy winced when Tom laughed again. It was not a kind sound.

"Of course you would be paranoid! Nobody wants to die, Percy! You will want to find this person that claims to be the one to kill you! Maybe destined, preordained, but my real question is what would you do about it? What would your _self defence_ tactic be?"

He leaned against the wall, still chuckling as though Percy was being stupid on purpose. The latter walked backwards, shoving a hand into his pocket to touch Riptide.

Tom noticed the movement. "You would eliminate the threat. Isn't that right, Percy?"

Percy inhaled, trembling from an unnamed emotion. He felt unstable. "No…no… I'd want to know why – "

" _You're in a bloody war, Percy!"_ Tom roared. "Hundreds of people and monsters want you dead! They will stab you through the heart and cut you up into pieces, sending each one to your mother, your father, your girlfriend, to Nico, Harry –"

"Shut up!" Percy yelled.

"They will torture you for information on camp, starve you, leave you in a dungeon, shackled up for days because you're the prophecy boy!" Tom spat. He advanced making Percy stumble back. "They will threaten everyone you have ever met, because in a war, it gets dirty very fast. If even one of them got too close to you, the only way to survive is to kill them before they touch you. Did no one ever tell you how a battle works, Percy? People die if they are soft hearted and weak. They get killed if they place too much trust on everyone around them because there is always a spy, a traitor waiting to turn the situation to fit their needs."

Percy was shaking his head. "Stop it."

"You kill the threat, cut it at its roots before it grows too strong for you to do anything. You get rid of the weeds and make the right plants grow. That's smart planning. That's how you survive. There is nothing good or bad about it. It's what camp will have to do if you don't want to die. It's what Voldemort tried to do with Harry."

He clapped his hands over his ears, but the voice was everywhere. It rattled against Percy skull, ramming all the terrible words into his senses.

"If you knew where the Titan army was based, camp would launch a sneak attack in the dead of the night, because that's when all your enemies have their guards down. Home is where you close your eyes and know that you won't get your throat slit. Home is where you can lay down you wand and sword and armour and not worry about dying a tragic and stupid death. Home is where you can completely relax and not worry that your family will try to murder you. That's because home is where the _good_ people are. And good means 'ally'. People working for the same cause. Allies include your mother who will not break your neck to eliminate you just like the new unclaimed demigod at camp who will fight with you because you told them your side is the good side.

"Home is where you're most vulnerable. A good leader will make sure that their troops can get into the enemy base and destroy it. That will include you having to slit Luke's neck while he sleeps. And you will do it so that Annabeth or Thalia wouldn't have to."

Percy could imagine everything Tom was saying. He could picture everyone suited up for battle as they killed the sleeping demigods and monsters. Tom walked towards him.

"The point is to get rid of the threat to your cause. Voldemort attempted to do the same. He utilized his resources, got the information, slithered from behind and eliminated the threat. Well, he tried to… utter failure, that was."

Tom placed a hand over his shoulder, staring directly into his eyes. "But his actions were of a good leader's. A powerful leader. Like you, should you direct camp. You will have to carry out those plans because in a war, everyone is a murderer. The politically correct term is soldier. The truthful term is pawn. The power lies with the general who has succeeded in surviving with the most number of pawns. If you win, you're a hero. If you lose, you become the betrayer."

 _Stop talking._

"Murder happens. The only thing you can do about it is decide if you want to be the killer to survive, or hold onto your morals and be killed. It doesn't matter how atrocious or unethical your plans are, if you win, you're the good guy. And it doesn't matter how sacrificial or benevolent someone is if they lose. The person with the power sets the rules, creates the world and decides whether they want to be called a hero or a good Samaritan."

Tom stood back, mockingly gauging him. "I suppose you would be the latter. If you win, that is. The fact that it _boils down to_ is that the murderers are the winners and the victims are the losers. What do you identify as?"

Percy couldn't move. His eyes were cast down at Tom's shadow as the owner walked back to his trophies. He heard Tom sigh in delight as he picked up one of the items they'd stolen. The locket lay on the floor, beckoning Percy. He followed.

Slowly, the world started to spin again.

* * *

 **Aaaand... stay tuned for the next chapter!**

 **Q: When did Ginny first see sixteen year old Tom in person?**

 **Cabba.**


	26. It's a Trap

**Rhysrhi – You're going to see a lot of pain and struggle on Percy's part. Be prepared.** **J**

 **A: Ginny say Tom emerging from the diary just as she collapsed in the Chamber.** **** **Sherlock Harry Winchester and ShadeofDeath746 are right again.**

 **And yes, Percy's conflicting choices are going to lead to something very intense. This story's going kind of slow, but my aim isn't to just churn out a plot. I love adding the little details to the narrative. I've been waiting since Pumki to write this fic. Power holds a lot of character change and story formation.**

 **Listening to – Castle by Halsey**

* * *

 _Monday, Oct. 8,  
Hogwarts, 3:30 p.m._

Classes were over for the day and though Harry's sleep schedule required him to rest from four to eight, he was too jittery to even think about napping.

He and Ron stood below the Divination classroom, watching the fourth years pile out as the final bell rang. The Hufflepuff and Gryffindor students stared at the pair curiously but no one stopped to ask. Harry thought he saw one of them wink at him, but he didn't really connect it till the group dissipated and Colin poked his head out from the ceiling door.

"Come on." He said, blond hair covering half his face. He retreated as Harry ascended the steps.

Make this quick and simple. No problem.

DJ and Colin stood next to the seats while Trelawney stood up and gestured Harry to one of the tea tables. Ron hung back with the boys and Harry took his seat opposite her.

Trelawney's olive green eyes were magnified behind her thick glasses. They seemed even more invasive than usual.

"Harry, you had a question for me." She said. She spoke like she was about to start singing.

Harry nodded. "Yes. I just… I wanted to ask if you were my patron."

He had no idea how to go about this. The Oracle had been very persuasive and Harry knew he had to find 'her', but he prayed it wouldn't be too difficult or dangerous.

"Are you afraid?" She seemed to smile even without moving her mouth.

Not of you. "No, professor. I just have to get my answer."

She raised her head, examining his face. Her eyes slid upwards to look at his scar through his long bangs. He fought the urge to adjust his hair.

"It's receding." She murmured.

He waited. Then she looked towards the door over his shoulder and called out, "Come in."

Ron, DJ and Colin nearly jumped when the door opened and Hermione, Ginny and Luna climbed up the stairs. Hermione had a neutral expression like she couldn't believe she was in the Divination classroom after two years of avoiding Trelawney. Ginny and Luna were panting having run from Muggle Studies.

Trelawney immediately turned towards Harry. "Have you told them everything?"

He shook his head. Harry knew that one day he'd have to explain everything he knew. About Rachel, Voldemort's past, his horcruxes and the like. But his head was still spinning with the newly loaded information that Hermione had dumped on his a few days ago.

Apparently, Lily Evans (or Lillian as Luna's mother had known her,) had been a Seer; an undocumented Seer with strong visions. And Luna had said that the ability could be inherited. Harry wondered if any of his dreams had ever been prophetic, but he knew, the moment he'd found out about Lily, that he'd have to ask Rachel.

He was sure Rachel was the more sensitive sibling to psychic powers than him. But the idea of her being his patron had sounded ridiculous. Harry found himself praying that it was Trelawney.

"Secrets rarely stay where they are hidden." Trelawney said. She looked over her glasses, directing the full strength of her eyes at him. It was nowhere near to the sharp, piercing, all-knowing gaze of the Oracle.

Then she sat back with a sigh and answered, "I am, in all probability, not your patron."

Harry just gawked at the straight forward answer which he hadn't expected in a thousand years. There was a snort from behind him. Someone was giggling. He snapped his mouth shut and nodded, face heating up.

"But..." She continued and they fell silent again. "I'd be careful if I were you. Who sent you?"

It took Harry a while to gather his words. "A... someone... who has the Inner Eye."

Trelawney's face was filled with renewed energy. "Oh is it? That's wonderful. But I must warn you. Sometimes, we Seers are directed by greater powers. Are you sure of the source of your question?"

Harry frowned. The Oracle had asked him, but who directed her? Apollo? Some higher being? Who was higher than the gods?

Trelawney leaned forwards. "Someone is seeking you out, Harry. If you do not know who your patron is, it is for your safety. Can you trust the Seer who sent you here?"

From far away, her words echoed to his rapidly moving consciousness. Was the Oracle not to be trusted? Who was searching for him? Patron, by definition, was meant to be on his side.

Harry sat back, stunned. Was this a trap?

* * *

 _Monday, Oct. 8,  
Manhattan, 5:07 p.m._

"And turn to the left." Coach Monroe called. Rachel exhaled, feeling the coiled tension almost absent from her body. She rolled to the left, blinked her eyes open and watched the large open soccer field with its mostly empty stadium and freshly cut grass. White paint over the metal benches was nearly as strong as the green of the grounds and her fingers danced over the sharp blades.

"Alright, girls. Hit the shower!" Munroe said, blowing on her whistle, and the newly formed soccer team for the school sat up after their first day of practice. It had been a tough two hours of warm up and then drills. They ended it with mild stretching exercises that required the players to lie down and concentrate on their breathing.

Rachel had been ecstatic when the results for the try outs had been posted up in the sports room. Her name was near the top. She'd spend the weekend in a happy daze, even though Harry and DJ hadn't been able to visit her.

With problems occurring in the wizarding world (not the least that someone was killed, and the village had been attacked, per se), Sirius had grounded Harry and made DJ swear to not leave the castle. Rachel was worried, but they'd reassured her that the castle was still safe.

Back to her life, she was on cloud nine… well, eight.

There had been no word from Percy yet. It had been a week and she knew that the demigods at camp were getting worried. She wasn't sure how she exactly knew that, but it felt obvious to her.

Still, she had made it on the team! That was good news!

Rachel sighed, feeling the stress take over again. She was tired. She knew that she'd sleep well later, but until then…

"Ooh! Rachel, don't look but Hal and Jesse are heading over!" Another newly recruited team member, Isi Nuka giggled. She raised an eyebrow and winked, while Rachel looked over to find the boys in football gear, walking towards her. Hal gave her a nervous smile and an awkward wave.

"He's totally crushing on you, you know that?" Isi whispered in excitement.

"He's like, two years older than me!" Rachel hissed, walking with her towards their bags.

"One year. He's birthday's in November. Chill! He's a sweetie, not like Don or the others."

Rachel knew Hal was sweet. He was polite and funny and never intruded like many others when he'd seen her sketch book. He had manners which were practically unheard of from a teenage boy as Rachel had found out.

He was like Percy had been before he gave priority to camp and the end of the world and stuff.

She was probably being mean, but…

"Hi, Rach!" Hal greeted her, his voice a little high. Jesse coughed and shot her a grin. "Hey, Rachel. Hi Isi, saw you doing push-ups pretty mean."

"Thanks, Jay. Did you see my new jersey? It's over there."

Jesse followed Isi away from them. Rachel caught the sight of a few other girls looking over towards Hal and her.

"So… Hal." Rachel said, looking up at him. She hadn't found him particularly appealing, but if she wanted to have a nice first date, there was no one else better.

"I've… sorta… wanted to ask you since Homecoming… but –"

He hadn't even finished his stuttering sentence when someone yelled from all the way across the field, "RACHEL!"

Immediately, she spun on the spot to gape at a half hazard Percy running over to her from the gates. He was rugged and worn like he'd had a stupidly incredible growth spurt, because he seemed taller than before. He seemed in desperate need of sleep. But he wasn't hurt and bruised and she couldn't help but scan every inch of him, from his muddy converses and torn denim, to his dirty hoodie and messy hair.

"Oh my god! Percy!" She threw her arms around his neck when he reached her and he barely caught her, not even stumbling back. She squeezed him tightly, feeling a giant weight lift from her chest, a weight she'd been denying for days.

Percy squeezed her back but only for a moment. It was almost enough, but then he held her by her forearms, firmly pulling her away to look her. His eyes seemed to burn into hers with an intensity that couldn't be human, and he whispered, "Rachel, listen to me. I need you to call Annabeth."

That name broke the heady feeling she'd been in. It snapped her out of her wishes and Rachel clenched her jaw, her smile disappearing into thinned lips.

"Why?"

"It's important! Rachel, please! Nico isn't here. He –"

"He's at camp, I think."

"Then I need you to call Annabeth, tell her to bring Nico with her to Central Park. I'll be waiting for them."

"Why Central –"

"That's where Grover is!" Percy's voice sounded close to screaming at her. His eyes were wild and powerful, swaying her to his words. Her heart stuttered when his voice broke.

"You found him?!" She exclaimed.

"Yes! I think so. I hope so. Rachel, _call them now_!" Percy was yelling. He was also leaving her. He was running away, sprinting towards the end of the ground, growing smaller. She watched as he took one sudden leap and propelled himself over the eight foot wall and onto the other side.

Dimly, she heard Bolt calling her, telling her to phone Annabeth. She could also see Hal standing stunned at her side. She reached into her bag to get her cell, feeling like she was sinking into the ground softly, silently, unnoticed.

* * *

Percy took a cab because he was already out of breath. His stomach ached with hunger and his throat was parched. But he needed to find Grover first. Then they could gorge on all the cheese enchiladas they could find.

Central Park, Tom had said. It made sense to Percy after the explanation. Grover had argued with the Council and had left camp in a huff. He took help from the dryads, travelling from tree to tree, sort of like what Harry could do, dropping off at where he was now heading.

Percy knew Tom was telling the truth because of what had happened to the park. Weeks ago, there had even been a news article on it. The park had gone silent. The article had been about the low bird population in the park. Tom had deduced that something had spooked them away. Percy had directed his thoughts towards the park, reaching out through the mind link until one of the metaphorical strings vibrated in response.

Grover was in Central Park. Something had happened in there. The place was a huge section of greenery in the middle of the city. He was too weak for Tom to search him out. He needed Annabeth and Nico.

They were going to find him. Percy got out of the cab, and spoke to the driver. "I paid you. Go on."

He ran before the driver could process the words. There were not as many crowds as a Monday evening usually had, but it didn't bother Percy. He ran done the stone steps and reached the fountain, drinking some of its water to renew himself. The taste was terrible, but he continued, jogging towards the trees.

His heart was beating wildly. _I'm here, G-Man. Where are you? Send me another signal._

Grover was quiet. His mind was blank and Percy let out a strained cry, trying to squash down the burning disappointment.

"You said he'd be here." He told Tom. "Where is he? Find him! Find him now!"

"Percy." Tom stood in front of him. His eyes were narrowed and his hands hung motionless by his sides. "There's something watching you."

Percy swallowed, hand immediately going for Riptide. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up.

Then, there was a rush of air and the shadow of the trees beside him shimmered. Percy stepped back, already knowing who it was. Nico and Annabeth materialised from the darkness. They were holding hands, blinking to adjust themselves to the warm surroundings. Annabeth's head snapped towards him.

Percy let out a rush of air. The tension that pulled him down lessened and he sighed, grinning at her. She'd fix this. She'd find him even if Tom couldn't. Percy pulled her towards him, wrapping his hands around her, sinking into her skin and hair, pulse relaxing.

"Percy!" Nico called and Percy looked up, smiling.

"Hey."

"Hey?" Annabeth pushed at his chest. Her eyes burned into his. "Hey? That's all you gotta say?"

She was angry?

"I..." He couldn't even come up with an excuse before she grabbed his t-shirt and yanked him in again, pressing her lips to his. He groaned, kissing her immediately. She wasn't furious, she'd been worried. Annabeth's grip on him didn't give and he didn't want to be apart. The long distance thing was not helpful. He should stay with her at camp. Yeah, that sounded right, then he could kiss her anytime –

"Guys!" Nico yelled. They pulled apart, breathing hard. Nico's face was flushed, looking away from them. "You said you found Grover! Is that what you were doing the whole week?"

Annabeth looked up at Percy. He had a few inches on her now. He couldn't stop smiling. "Yeah. Yeah! That's where... I had a dream about it, so I left. I know, I'm sorry for not telling anyone –"

"That was so dangerous." Annabeth said, frowning. His orange camp t-shirt was still curled in her fists. "Going alone like that was reckless. Was it that urgent?"

"Yes." He lied. "I had to, Wise Girl. I need to find Grover. Something happened to him, the Titan army got to him and I'm going to get him back. I nearly reached Florida when I ran into the Erymanthian Boar again and that's when it hit me. Pan had once said that the spirit of the wild has to pass onto us, but what if he meant that literally?"

Nico's eyes widened. Annabeth took a step back. "You mean our guess was close? That Grover is actually the next Lord of the Wild? Is that why they took him?"

"I think so." Percy said, making it up as he went. "It's this whole park, Annabeth. It's silent. None of the trees' spirits are responding. I saw the same thing in a wildlife refuge. The dryads weren't there. It's like they're stuck in their own trees."

"Someone's messing with the wild." Nico wondered.

"Something like that." A fourth voice said. All three demigods turned to see a woman with captivating eyes. She wore a bright red frock with white leggings but her smile was the most beautiful feature.

Percy and Annabeth stared at her, speechless because while it was far too easy to keep looking at her, there was something in the air that pricked at him. It was Nico who took out his sword first. The deadly black blade of his sword snapped them out of the trance. The woman glared at the Stygian Iron and Percy saw her eyes flicker red. She wasn't human. The Empousa hissed, angry at her glamour fading.

"Immune?" She hissed. Her hair rose up as though the wild curls had turned into snakes. She reminded Percy of Medusa, except he watched as her eyes went into slits and she hissed at them.

There was answering growls all around them. Several demons that emerged from the forest. They had sickly yellow scale like skin with horns protruding from their back, head and hands. The monsters stood at least eight feet tall, about a dozen of them forming a circle around the trio.

Annabeth stepped closer to Percy and turned, placing them back to back. Nico raised his sword, backing towards the couple. They were surrounded.

"I should introduce myself. My name is Delia. Excuse the company, please, we were expecting someone else." The Empousa simpered. "Someone... less divine, you could say."

The hairs on the back of his neck stood up. Percy felt the bracelet tingle for a second.

"I was really looking forwards to meeting..." She heaved a sorrowful sigh. "No matter, we can change our plans. Flexible office timings make it all worth the while."

"I doubt the pay's any good." Annabeth snapped.

Delia giggled, a dainty pitch. "Four figure gold, darling. Doesn't get any better than that."

Her body shifted back to human form trying to get his guard down again, but he was prepared now. Percy shifted his gaze back to the towering demons. The more he stared, the more features seemed to show. Their horns looked like bones sticking outside their skin. Their eyes were a glow of orange and red and their low growls filled the air. The park sounded completely empty of any other kind of life.

"Omikron." Annabeth whispered. It was the name of one of camp's battle formations. He knew what to do.

Percy dropped to one knee, letting Nico place a foot on his back. Annabeth grabbed Nico's arm and with sudden momentum, pulled him just as he leaped upwards. Speed was important. Nico twisted and threw his sword. It flew to slice off the heads of two of the monsters.

The demons roared as the ones who were hit turned to sulphur. They rushed forwards, but Percy had already taken his dagger out, rolling once to swipe at the closest monster's legs. Riptide was swung around his back and he took out a third demon. He landed roughly, scraping the skin on his knuckles but got up again.

Nico and Annabeth fought together. She'd tutored him many times and they worked well enough, moving in tandem. Nico used the shadows and was able to sink at least four of the demons before he could retrieve his sword. Annabeth used her dagger to great effect. She shielded him, moving with adexterity that the demons didn't possess. Nico reached his blade and then she dove to the left, all three demigods separating and reaching behind the monsters, who were too tall to react suddenly.

Percy sucked in a breath just as a huge arm, nearly as thick as his torso, slammed right in front of him. It was impossible to engage in a hand to hand combat with the monsters. He was right when he assumed bones to be embedded on their body.

Percy brought Riptide in front of him to drive it into the demon's throat. The blade chopped several hard bones before sinking into the tough flesh. As the monster dissolved, he felt shorter claws pierce the skin below his neck. Percy choked.

 _Leave them_ , she whispered. Her voice was melodic and his mind went dizzy from her sweet breath. He could feel her lips touching his ear and his grip on his sword and dagger weakened. He watched dimly as Annabeth and Nico faced five of the demons on their own.

 _Come with me_ , she hissed. Percy wanted to obey. He was about to turn when the locket on his chest, nearly forgotten in the heat of the battle, grew hot.

Tom stood there, eyes burning an angry red. He glared at the Empousa and said, "Kill her, Percy. Now."

His mind cleared. He squeezed his eyes shut before opening them. He saw Annabeth and Nico and held Riptide tight again. Percy reached back, sinking his dagger into the empousa's side. As she shrieked in anger and pain, her claws slipped from his skin and Percy turned swiftly, sending his sword through the top half of her body.

Annabeth slashed at one of the demon's knee and as it fell towards her, she slit its throat before, darting to the side to avoid another attack. Nico took down another one but he was tiring quickly. He'd used too much of his power and Percy stepped in to stab one of the monsters' back. He twisted his sword, holding tight as it shrieked and roared.

Suddenly the monster tugged its weight ahead and Percy yelped as he was hauled forwards. Riptide was in its gut, but it was still standing. It turned around and Percy barely saw the meaty arm fly towards him, backhanding him away.

He felt sharp pain hit him below his shoulder. The demon's bones punctured into his body at several points. He felt it break both his collarbones. He wasn't sure if he was screaming. He couldn't breathe. Something was flooding his lungs and it wasn't air or even water.

 _He was floating. It seemed like underwater, but the colour was so bright, he wanted to flinch away from it. White light seared his eyelids and he curled up into a ball trying to shield his face. It wasn't working. The brightness was sharp like physical pain._

 _A recruitment..._

 _Percy's ears pricked. He could hear voices._

 _... vital to the cause... permission...mortal magic..._

 _He felt dread like a physical pressure in his system. Percy raised his head but the light was hot now, burning his skin._

 _...right choice..._

 _Percy recalled that voice. It was Kronos, speaking through Luke's body, possessing it._

 _...do it...myself..._

The brightness receded and the pain disappeared. Percy's head sunk into a pillow. The bed was tangible. He could get the scent of cookies, bacon and strawberries. Pine was faint but it was there.

His eyes snapped open. He was in the Infirmary at Camp Half-Blood. Kayla Knowles was looking at him in surprise.

"Jackson! Hey, we thought you'd be out for the entire day."

Percy gripped the sheets. "What... happened?"

"Well, di Angelo brought you here. There was an extra set of bones sticking out of your chest. Luckily, they weren't yours, but you did bleed a lot. There were scars all around your neck too, but they looked a few days old."

She gave him a doubtful look. "Where'd you been?"

He could still feel the locket on his chest. So they hadn't been able to see it. Percy sat up, gingerly touching his chest through the new shirt. His upper chest felt a little sensitive, but it didn't hurt.

"I need to talk to Chiron." He whispered, more to himself. Then he looked up at her. "Where's Annabeth? And Nico?"

"They're fine. They got you here, said something about the Titan army recruiting people onto their side." Kayla gave a faint shudder. She shook her head then. "Chiron's not here, by the way. He went with Argus to investigate the forestry disturbances. Annabeth said Central Park had gone silent."

"It's not just silent." Percy swung his legs to get out bed. "I have to talk to the counsellors."

"Most of them are in the Big Hous –"

"Perfect."

He tried to run but winced at the exhaustion that had crept into his bones. He walked as brisk as possible and came upon a small crowd on the porch. Kayla was right behind him, telling him to take it slow, but he knew this couldn't wait.

"Perce!" Adam from Cabin 9 called in surprise, raising his hand for a fist bump. Percy obliged as the others turned and the conversation stopped.

Annabeth gave an exasperated huff. "You're supposed to be resting, Seaweed Brain!"

Nevertheless, she walked forwards and pecked his lips, holding his hand tight. Someone catcalled at them but Clarisse spoke silencing everyone.

"Jackson!" She barked. "Is it true? The Titans want to recruit _Harry_?"

Percy told them his vague half sense dream. Will Solace and the Stoll brothers spoke up at the same time, but Charles Beckendorf shushed them.

"Damn it!" Chris Rodriguez said quietly. "That's the last thing we need. I doubt we can fight wizards. They have wands and magic, they can just strike us long range."

"Harry'd never go over to their side!" Nico argued, shocked anyone could think badly of him.

"He's not talking about Harry." Silena Beauregard muttered. "Any wizard could be a problem. You said there was that incident in Rome with demigods and wizards and monsters. Could it have been them? Were they trying to take Harry?"

"No." Percy let out a shaky breath, leaning into Annabeth's side for comfort. "That... They're different. I could tell."

"I hope so. Because if the rumours of Ajax the Lesser are true –" Stanley said. He was standing next to Nico and Harley, trailing off uncertainly.

Percy had the clear memory of getting hit by an arrow point blank. His body seemed to seize up. Annabeth immediately wrapped a hand around his waist.

"We can't be sure though. I don't believe Harry will join them, but the same can't be said for the other witches and wizards. There are a lot of them and most don't know about us. If the Crooked One can get to them, manipulate their thoughts and make them think their doing the right thing, we're all in serious trouble." She said. Her words made Percy swallow.

"Can we get Harry to... I don't know... get people to _not_ join with the Titans... like, just to stay in their school castle thingy?" Connor asked, worried.

"That would include him having to reveal everything about us to them." Will pointed out. "Are we ready for that?"

"Would that be so bad?" Harley asked. Had that question been put forward by anyone else, there would have been a snappy retort, but Silena and Nico replied at the same time.

"We can't be sure, Harley."

"Sweetie, it's still risky..."

Percy closed his eyes and frowned. "We can't let the army get to any of them. They're a population in the low millions, but most of them are immune to the Mist. They're already in a war, so tensions are high. We need to find a way to contact a majority of them and discuss the situation."

"Discuss what?" Kayla asked, eyes wide. " 'Hi, we're demigods. There's a slight possibility that a Titan army may come knocking, don't open your door?'"

"Pretty sure they'll freak out over us, much less the gods and titans." Will nodded.

"Then we introduce ourselves first." Travis suggested. Everyone stared at him. "Guys, it's not nice, but we have to make do. Like, we can hold a meeting, invite some of Harry's friends and have a tea thing. Brits do that, right?"

"Tea and chips." Nico confirmed. Harley chuckled.

"Can we even afford something like that?" Clarisse asked. "It'd be a big risk, exposing ourselves."

"They'd be exposed too." Percy said.

"Yes... but try to think how it would go. Where would we meet? Who's gonna go for this thing? It can't be too many of us, that could scare them off. It could make them react. And too many of them can make us react. How the Hades are we supposed to make this diplomatic?"

"We could meet in the Atlantic Ocean. It's midway."

"Shut up, Stoll."

"Actually, mid way would be in the Bermuda Triangle. That's so cool."

"No, it wouldn't." Percy sighed. "Look, we can get a few of Harry and DJ's friends to meet with some of us. Just a handful. That's a start."

"Sounds slow. What if the titans are already recruiting?" Adam said.

"Then we can't wait." Annabeth declared. "We have to start planning this now. To make it as peaceful as possible and to start including more people till we reached a tip over limit."

They stayed quiet, wondering the implications of exposing their world. It was mind bending. Percy felt the locket twitch but stamped down the urge to look up. He was sure Tom was standing there, watching them.

* * *

Hal had quit it and said a vague and sudden goodbye before walking away, legs moving at a brisk pace. Rachel's shoulders slumped. If she could, she would have blamed Percy for everything. But he was a world away scouring the lands for his friend till he'd had to come back. It wasn't his fault. And yet, as she called his girlfriend, Annabeth, to inform her of the development, Rachel felt incredibly diminished to a supporting role that barely got enough screen time.

She was a minor character in her own story.

She kicked at the grass, making her way from the grounds to the entrance. Allan was due to pick her up. But before she could leave the lawn, she heard her name in its entirety.

"Rachel Elizabeth Dare…"

The words were slow and measured. Rachel froze, feet sticking to the grass, eyes losing focus. The world seemed to tilt and shimmer as though there was a veil pulled between her and everything else. She felt detached from everything as she slowly turned and spotted Luke Castellan seated on one of the low benches at the edge of the field.

But it wasn't Luke. His mortal body seemed to glow with an earthly power. Rachel felt her voice die and her muscles atrophied. Bolt was there, silent as well. They were in the presence of a Titan. And not just any Titan, but the king.

She couldn't move her body. To her horror, her legs walked towards him, carrying her unwillingly and making her sit on the bench beside Kronos.

Her fingers were trembling. Rachel's eyes were focused on the scar that looked like it could split open and bleed ichor at any given moment. Kronos smiled. Luke's face stretched as he turned his entire body towards her to face her properly.

"Relax." He told her. She could hear the immortal's tone through the demigod's voice. It was horrific. She wanted to run away but she was stuck in her cage of flesh.

"I won't hurt you, Dare. I just want a conversation. Please, calm down."

The use of the word 'Please' did nothing to placate her fear, but at his words, there was a slow soothing wave of relief that surrounded her and Rachel exhaled, not even having realized that she hadn't been breathing.

She watched as the air shimmered with whatever magic he had used to make her relax. The colours of purple and silver fused like electric charges, almost invisible, but she caught them surrounding Luke's body.

"You're very good." Kronos said. He seemed pleased. "Luke had made a mistake not asking you to lead him to Daedalus. He would have gained precious time."

Rachel couldn't respond. She still couldn't look him in the eye. The last time she'd seen him, she'd thrown her brush at him to give Percy a quick second to escape. Kronos seemed to know where her thoughts were and he chuckled. She cringed.

"That was quite brave of you. You're very insightful. Reckless as well, but then again, what teen isn't? But enough chit chat, I'd like to delve into the matter."

Luke, no, Kronos leaned forward and Rachel's spine froze again. She could see the smile still adorning his face, but she couldn't look up any higher than his nose.

"I'd like your help, Rachel."

No. She panicked. No, please don't.

"It's nothing much. I'm not asking you to wear armour and wield a sword." He shook his head as though it was a crazy thought. "No, I'm just interested in your abilities."

Abilities?

"Your clear sightedness is one of the best senses a mortal has had in centuries, I'm willing to bet." Kronos said, still not looking away. Rachel's entire frame was under pain from the force of his gaze.

"Not to mention, your intuitiveness. That is definitely rare. You're a gem of your generation, Rachel. Personally, I don't know what you're doing here, stuck with all the other mortals like you're one of them."

He exhaled, his lips rising on one side in a show of sympathy. "I know of your visions."

The words shocked her back into movement. Her eyes flickered upwards and she caught sight of molten gold light that seemed to shine through his irises. The Titan was looking right at her. She swallowed, her throat going dry.

She suddenly felt Bolt's familiar weight settled on the back of her neck, her fur radiating warmth. Kronos moved away, sitting up straight, eyes glittering at the sight of her puppy.

Don't look at her. Rachel wanted to say, but she couldn't. Her bravery was gone. She was alone, defenseless in front of the most powerful being in present time. She was sure that if she made one wrong move, he'd vaporize her.

Kronos seemed to read her thoughts. He raised an eyebrow, a very human, regular gesture. It threw her off balance.

"Your power is wasted here, Rachel. You have so much ability to tip the scales of war if used correctly. I can show you how to wield your magic."

There was something in his tone that made her forget her fear for a second.

"I… I don't have magic." She whispered.

Kronos looked at her, incredulous. "Who told you that? Of course you have magic!"

Rachel thought about her hospital visit and the certificate that declared her a Squib. She thought of her daydreams of being a witch, buried under sardonic humour. She thought of Harry and DJ, on the other side of the ocean attending a school for magic while she stayed in Manhattan. She thought of Percy and Annabeth and Nico, demigods under their own power while she was relegated to her mundane life.

She hadn't realized how excluded she had been before now.

"You have an incredible potential." Kronos continued. He seemed less frightening. Rachel swallowed again.

"Potential for what?"

Kronos smiled again and looked down at her bags. She hadn't bothered to change even though she was bathed in sweat. He sports bag was next to her school satchel and she knew what he wanted. Wordlessly, she reached down and opened it, drawing out her sketch book. It was one of her rough notes which she carried everywhere she went.

She offered it to him, not even sure if she was doing it willingly. Her survival instinct told her to obey his words without question.

He flipped through the pages taking note of any detailed works. Many of them were random doodles with no real pattern or character. They weren't pretty or 'good', but she did them when she was bored or in need of inspiration.

He stopped at the latest sketch. Rachel flinched when the page was laid out in between them. Kronos looked very curious.

It was a large outline of Camp Half Blood. She had drawn the Big House and the forest line, along with the tops of a few of the cabins. There was barely any real detail, but the most eye catching thing about it was the flames she had drawn over the buildings and on the ground.

"Tell me what you saw." He said, his voice so soft, it felt like silk. Rachel clenched her hands on the bench.

"It was burnt to the ground." She whispered. "Everything was gone."

"And?" He asked.

He knew it. He knew what she'd seen. Rachel felt her eardrums cave from air pressure. The noises from the road had reduced.

"I saw a mummy… her… its eyes were glowing… they were green… she was looking at me…"

She shut her eyes and bit her tongue. He couldn't know. She shouldn't tell him. He was Percy's nemesis, the bad guy. She waited, for an onslaught for what felt like an eternity.

"I doubt Percy even cares about you at this point. He has a lot of work, not least of which is looking out for his friends."

Kronos shut her book and Rachel felt the kick of his words. Was she not Percy's friend?

She took her book and hugged it, waiting for him to speak.

Leave, leave, leave.

He looked at her. "Whoever told you that you didn't have magic should be taught a lesson. I could show you exactly what you can do, Rachel. You have an ability that's rare even for our world. It should not be denied. The greatest crime here is to treat you like a commoner. I think you're a queen."

"Queen." Rachel repeated. **"** _ἄνασσα_."

Kronos looked impressed. "Yes. You know your Greek. Or rather… you know your destiny."

His words made her shiver. She wasn't sure whether she was afraid or excited.

He grinned at her. Then he reached into his pocket. Luke wore a regular shirt un-tucked over denim. It was a good look for him.

"Hold out your hand, Rachel." He told her as he drew something small and silver. It looked like a bracelet, delicate and beautiful. Rachel felt drawn to it.

She lifted her arm and he clipped the chain around her wrist. It dangled, its lone charm hanging in plain view. Rachel saw a design carved on it. It was a staff with a curved sword at its end. She couldn't recall the name.

"When you decide to embrace your power, just squeeze it tight. It's your choice if you want to be somebody, Rachel. No one can take that away from you."

Kronos gave her a small nod like a Victorian gentleman and rose from the bench. Rachel was so caught by the beauty of the silver bracelet that she hadn't realized when he'd left.

Bolt shuddered as she leaped onto her lap. The puppy sniffed at the ornament. " _A scythe, Rachel. That's his symbol. He wants you in his army."_

* * *

 **Would you look at that? Hee hee. Stay tuned, everyone!**

 **Q: When did canon!Rachel realise that she was Oracle host material?**

 **Cabba.**


	27. Rosenfield's Regret

**Bad news: Exams have beset me. I won't be able to update until the latter half of November.  
Good news: I will definitely finish this series. The delay will only slow the process, not stop it.**

 **A: It looked to me Rachel realised she could be the next Oracle when she was on the beach away from Manhattan during the battle, in The Last Olympian, so ShadeofDeath746 got that in sync with me. Catie Cat is right (lastish book** **) and Sherlock Harry Winchester – that's a new perspective I didn't think of. It's interesting.**

 **Listening to – Right Round by Flo Rida**

* * *

 _Monday, Oct. 8_

Harry's head was still spinning as the seven made their way back to Gryffindor tower. He knew he should really get some sleep, but his nerves were taut and he was barely aware that they'd walked all the way from the Divination room to his dorm. Luna was with them, saying something about different inflections of the 'patron' which also seemed to cover guardian and parent.

A small voice inside his head told him that he already knew the answer to the Oracle's question. But he resisted speaking out loud.

"We need to make a list." Hermione declared. Ginny and Colin had seated themselves at the edge of Ron's bed while Harry just collapsed over his. DJ and Luna leaned beside the window while Ron stood right next to the door to exhale loudly.

"A list of how many people would benefit from finding out who Harry's 'patron' is? I don't even get that question, you know. Harry, why didn't you ask the Oracle to explain what it meant?"

Harry's mumbled into his pillow a language no one would ever be able to translate.

"Trelawney actually terrified me." Colin admitted. He turned towards Ginny for a second before looking back at Hermione. "She knows more than she's saying."

"Or she knows nothing and is pretending to be mysterious." Hermione shrugged.

"No." Luna observed, poking at the red curtains over Neville's four poster. "She's smart to know to avoid this. If we're talking about demigods – "

Harry jumped up. "Let's not! Let's not say that word!" He pointed a finger at DJ who didn't look intimidated in the least.

"Harry!" Hermione marched towards him. "Are you even taking this seriously? Someone from their world is after you! After the incident in Italy, I thought you'd want to find out."

"You've got to kidding me, 'Mione!" He said, half-yelling at her. "I want nothing to do with Rome! I don't want to find out anything! You don't know what happened, you can't lecture me about this!"

"I want you to be safe!" She argued.

"I am safe! I'm at Hogwarts, following Sirius' instructions, keeping my nose clean. Nobody can scare me as long as I'm in this castle."

"Did you forget about Crouch?" Ginny asked, eyes narrowed at his obstinacy.

Harry glowered at her. Before he could respond, a bright flash of light illuminated the air behind him. He yelled, startling everyone else as he scrambled away from his bed. The others dashed away from the space over Harry's mattress and comforter where the air pulsed in purple and silver shapes before other colours started to bleed in. Red was sharp, green slow, blue bright and yellow soft, darted into a large circle, cleaning out an image that hovered over his bed.

Harry had already had his wand out, pointing at the rainbow screen before he realised what it was. It had been a while since he'd seen an IM. At least half a dozen faces could be seen in the window. It was blurred but after another second of buffering, the entire screen cleared up and he could see Percy, Annabeth, Nico, little Harley, the Stolls, Clarisse, Chris and several more trying to edge their way into the window.

"What... the bloody hell?" Ron whispered, stunned. Harry looked around at them and saw everyone except DJ, gaping at the IM.

"Oooh." Percy's voice echoed with static. "I'd hoped you were alone, Harry."

"Sweet Merlin, Percy, where the hell were you? Are you alright?"

"Yeah, don't worry, I was fine the whole time. I just had to leave quickly. Um... Hi Luna! And Colin..."

"Now are you glad they know?" DJ whispered. Harry groaned.

"They know?" Clarisse pushed her way to the forefront. "Are you telling me they _all_ know?"

DJ went to stand behind Harry. Harley stood on his toes and said, "Are you all wizards? Is that your school? It looks like a bedroom."

"It's our dorm room, Harley." He answered. Harry ran a hand through his hair, before introducing everyone on both sides.

"Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, Ginny Weasley, Colin Creevey, Luna Lovegood, and DJ Potter, meet Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase, Nico di Angelo, Will Solace, Kayla Knowles, Travis and Connor Stoll (guys, don't switch places), Clarisse La Rue, Chris Rodriguez, Adam Cho, Silena Beauregard, Charles Beckendorf, Stanley Gorski, and Harley Ren. Say hi, everyone."

Kayla raised an eyebrow. "Harry, next time you introduce groups of people, just say their first or last names."

"Yeah, otherwise it becomes a cluster of chaos." Ron muttered.

"Because none of us are going to remember anyone." Connor added.

Harry pocketed his wand, feeling his drowsiness clear away. This was unprecedented. Percy would never IM him unless it was an emergency. But observing their faces made it clear that no one was in immediate danger.

"Do you have any idea how risky this is?" Hermione finally said. She looked at Percy who tried a grin. "This is dangerous, Percy! Iris Messaging Hogwarts, everyone here will be able to see it. The Mist isn't that strong with us!"

"There are more dangerous things in play." Annabeth responded. "Harry, has anyone tried to contact you from here? You or anyone else in the castle?"

"Contact as in use a mummy as a conduit to make me find something that benefits them and confuse the hell out of me? In that case, yeah."

Chris gawked. "Oh."

"What's a con-do-it?" Harley asked.

"A channel. What did the Oracle tell you to do?" Annabeth asked.

That took a while. As Harry explained, they sat down on Neville's bed to have a clear view of the window. The demigods and demigoddesses made themselves comfortable on the porch of the Big House. The background of camp was scenic. Vibrant colours filled the space, with blue skies and spacious grounds behind them. Harry spoke about the Oracle's demand but he felt like only a few were really listening to him. He didn't mind. They were getting to discover something nobody ever thought possible.

In the back of his mind, he wondered if demigods and wizards have ever met before. They couldn't be the first. It must have happened before. He'd never read anything about this, but surely, two civilisation can't go millennia without running into each other. It wasn't an ignorant time where people stuck to their territories, they ventured out and explored. The muggles had travelled to the farthest places, and so had the rest of the world. The total population of ten billion sentient, conversational beings couldn't just hide from each other.

But seriously, with the involvement of the gods... how many other cultures' gods still lived?

"Repeat that again?" Annabeth blurted. Harry sighed.

"I can't recall it clearly, Annabeth. My memory isn't what it used to be."

"Getting on in years, huh?" Travis commiserated. "I know how that feels. It's the same in my case. It feels like it was just yesterday that found my first grey hair, not I've got a whole head of them."

"The two of you remind me of someone I know." Ginny muttered, dryly. She pointed at Connor and Travis who batted their eyelashes in thanks.

"There is a way to know exactly what the prophecies were." Ron said, sitting up straight. "We could use a Pensieve."

Harry nearly slapped himself. He'd been using a Pensieve to look into Voldemort's childhood for weeks now. That should have occurred to him.

"That sounds morose." Stanley giggled.

"Will that help in identifying what the Oracle said?" Clarisse asked, raising an eyebrow at Stan before looking up.

"It will. But the difficult part will actually be extracting the memory from my head." Harry looked towards the others seated beside him. "Anyone knows the spell?"

"Extracting?" Percy whispered, scandalized. Hermione shook her head. "There isn't a specific spell for it. You just need to concentrate on the memory and focus on removing it. But it can go really wrong if someone untrained does it."

Ron turned towards her. "You'll have the best chance of doing it, 'Mione."

"I've done it." Luna murmured. Everyone, on both sides of the IM, turned to stare at her. Luna had seemed like part of the wallpaper (or the stone wall, in the castle's case), simply observing the demigods and the scene behind them as though she had zoned out and started to daydream. But her words brought everyone's attention to her in a startling moment of surprise.

"Um... really?" Harry said. He already sounded nervous.

"Oh yes. I do it a few times a year, to refresh my extrasensory shield enchantments."

She was smiling at him serenely while his face was frozen.

"Your Core!" Colin exclaimed. "Oh! Okay, you do it to examine how your Core functions around your mind."

"Yes, that's what I said."

"And... it works?" Nico asked, a little incredulous. "Like, you see the inside of your head, or something?"

"I see my memories; it helps me search for chinks in my magic and it's good for Occlumency practice."

"You know Occlumency?" DJ asked, his voice faint.

"Yes, of course." Luna shrugged, beaming at him. She turned towards Harry. "I could get your memory out. But you'll need to find a Pensieve for you to use. Mine is meant just for me."

"Right." Harry muttered. He cleared his throat. "I'll get one. Sirius'll have one in his office."

"But you can't remove it from the house." DJ pointed out. "That thing's been there for the better part of fifty years. You'll have to get in there during one of the Saturday visits."

"Saturday?" Annabeth frowned.

Harry nodded. "She's right, we shouldn't wait that long. Luna, let's get that memory now, I'm going to London."

"Whoa!" DJ yelled, standing up. "What if the Order's there? Sirius will ground you till your OWLs."

"The teachers have a Pensieve, won't they?" Ginny suggested.

Hermione sided with her. "They might. We know Dumbledore has one, but it's not like he'll let you use it. And don't even think of breaking into his office." She added when she saw Harry's face turn into a smirk.

"You can use the Come and Go room." Percy said.

This time everyone, even Luna, turned to gape at Percy. He seemed startled at the silent but insistent attention from them.

"The what?" Hermione frowned.

"The... um... the Come and Go room..." His voice went so low that Harry couldn't hear the whole thing.

DJ blinked. "I've never heard of that place."

Percy's face went red. Harry thought he was blushing, but then realised that he was holding his breath. Percy shut his eyes and let out a small groan.

"Percy!" Harry called, standing up. Hermione gasped. "He's not breathing!"

Annabeth caught Percy's shoulder before he could collapse forward. Beckendorf and Travis reached for him as well.

Then the entire IM window shook. It began to dissolve from the edges.

"Nico!" Harry's heart started to thunder. It looked like Percy was having a panic attack. "Nico, drachma!"

"What's happening to him?!" Luna jumped forwards like she wanted to touch the rainbow window but Ginny caught her hand.

"Harry, you have one!" DJ yelled. Harry stopped from face-palming as he dove to his nightstand to get his wallet out. He struggled to find the small pocket where he'd distinctly remembered shoving in a few Drachmas. He found one cold gold coin and tossed it into the nearly gone window. The entire message shimmered again and everything came back into clarity.

Percy was sitting with his head between his knees, breathing heavily while Annabeth rubbed his back. The other demigods were huddled around him. Clarisse was yelling, "What the Hades, Jackson!? We weren't even fighting this time!"

"Sorry, sorry." Percy panted.

"Stop shouting at him. You're not helping." Luna said, her voice taking on a sharp tone that was so uncharacteristic of her that it left the others speechless.

Harry gripped his wallet tight, leaning towards the window to get a good look at him. Annabeth and Nico were on either sides of Percy, Will had knelt next to him muttering something. Silena was patting Clarisse's arm to calm her down.

In a sudden move that could have caused a whiplash, Percy raised his head, snapping her eyes towards Harry. "Seventh floor, opposite the tapestry of the dancing trolls."

"What?"

"The Come and Go room. It turns into anything you want. Walk to and fro, thrice, thinking of what you want the room to be. One of the ghosts told me about it the last time I was there."

Ginny and DJ looked very suspicious but Luna was excited. "Oooh! Was it the Fat Friar? He knew about the seven passages of Hogwarts that led outside. We verified with the map, remember DJ?"

"Er..."

"Oh yeah." Colin said.

"Okay." Beckendorf said. "You can try the pen-sieve, Harry. And we also need to talk about the Titans. If what Nico says is true –"

"It is! Percy and Annabeth heard it too!"

" –then Harry needs to hear this as well."

"The Titans?" He asked. "What does that have to do with me?"

"It's not just you, it's with your entire population." Kayla added. "We think they may want to get some wizards and witches on their side."

Ron's jaw dropped. "What? Why would they want us? They're bloody Titans! Can't they just zap new fighters or something?"

Harley scoffed. "That sounds stupid."

Connor let out a breath. He was serious. It was an odd look for him like it was for Luna. "They need an army too. The gods have camp. The titans have the rogue demigods and monsters. Wizards will give them an edge that we can't afford."

"What can we do in an immortals' war?" Colin whispered.

"Long range attacks, for one. Not to mention we have no clue what sort of magic you have." Clarisse explained. "Harry demonstrated and explained some of it, but it probably hasn't covered even ten percent of what you know."

"Less than that." Harry agreed.

"So what's the plan? You want to talk to Dumbledore? The Order? The Ministry? The last thing we want is You-Know-Who finding out about you." Ron retaliated.

"Who's that?" Connor asked.

"He's talking about Voldemort." Colin interjected. His face turned pink and DJ looked at him impressed.

"This is actually a start." Silena said, grinning at them. "We're talking to each other, finding out things that can help. We just need to do the same on a larger scale."

"And possibly in person." Hermione nodded.

"You want to hold a meeting?" Nico asked, hesitant. "Like with all of us?"

Percy shook his head. "Too many of us could be very problematic. We'll start arguing and fighting if one of us says the wrong thing."

"Plus it'll make everything too political." Harry sighed. "We could very well be in court if we try to hold a meeting like that.

"So, how about we do the same thing we're doing right now?" Ginny spoke. "Except next time, we'll be face to face. Limited number of people, everyone with fixed topics to talk about, and fixed time limits."

"That is not the same thing as this." DJ pointed out. She glared at him. "I meant same as in diplomatic. It's like making friends, but keeping in mind the drawbacks."

"The drawback being some of us could get pissed off and decide to join the titans?" Ron suggested.

"You're not helping."

"I'm just saying. This is risky as it is. It's fine with us because we knew about you guys and that none of your problems could affect us."

"Ron!" Hermione protested.

"No, wait. Hear me out. It's ugly, but it's the truth. People won't be really bothered about something unless it could upset their lives. When we heard about the camp and the gods, it was shocking, yeah, but we knew Percy before; we spoke to him, saw him a lot and the truth didn't hurt us. We heard about demigods _after_ we met Percy and Annabeth and Nico and we didn't have any problems with them because we knew them as Harry's friends. They were not potential threats to be afraid of. But if we tell people about demigods and then try to get them to meet you all, it'll be tense. And it could get dirty."

The silence that followed was jarring. Ron was right, Harry realised. Percy had been a neighbour first and then friends for years. The news that he was a demigod from a whole different world didn't shake Harry as much as it could have if they'd met any other way. He'd seen Percy with his powers but he'd never felt threatened by it. Annabeth had been scary at first, but Harry trusted her because Percy did. (He didn't like her at first, but that was a different matter.)

And nobody could hate Nico. Not when they saw him as a lonely, lost ten year old who had been basically abandoned by his sister, and realised that his father could not even claim him properly because it had been too dangerous then.

"That's true." Stanley added. "If we want people to have an amicable meeting, we need to run this smoothly. We have to talk to each other as allies before dropping them into a pit. It was actually risky for Harry to have come to camp, but since it was Percy that had brought him, people started to talk to him. But in the end, it was what happened in the end that really convinced everyone."

DJ frowned. "Why, what happened in the end?"

"I played the guitar." Harry said, trying to signal the demigods not to give anything away. "It really blew them away."

He hadn't told them about his stint with the Golden Fleece and the forest. Hermione and DJ would not be pleased.

"Huh?" Harley asked, "No, you sav –"

"The Come and Go room's on the seventh floor, you say?" Harry continued, widening his eyes at Percy.

"Yeah...?"

"Cool. We'll get on that." Harry stood up again, looking at Annabeth. "You figure out a way to introduce yourselves in the most peaceful way possible. Let's not start a third war, we're all busy enough with the current ones."

"Harry –"

There definitely a deity looking over him, Harry thought as the IM flickered again. It started to dissolve and he waved. "Bye!"

Once the IM was gone, Hermione folded her arms and turned towards him. "What was that about?"

"What was what? The Iris Message? See, Iris is the goddess who overlooks this way of communications. As long as there's a god or demigod on one side, it can hold for a few minutes depending on how free or interested she is."

Harry paused for a moment. "She might have overheard us. This is definitely going on Hephaestus TV."

"I literally have no idea as to what you just said. " Ginny frowned.

Hermione opened her mouth but Harry spoke again. "Don't you guys want to see my memory? The Oracle's a real mummy, you will not be disappoi –"

"Harry!" She didn't budge from her place and Harry wished he could override her, but her expression was firm, lips thinned out, McGonagall glare on full frontal force. He winced.

"I... it's nothing..."

"The kid was saying that you saved them?" Colin said. "How did you do that? Granted your guitar skill is beautiful, but that's not it is it?"

DJ groaned. "Oh Merlin! Don't tell me you went superhuman and saved someone from... like falling down the stairs."

 _A glass bottle smashed into the side of his face, knocking him completely off balance. Harry swayed in his spot, staring at the culprit. The tourist stood there, clutching the broken bottle in his hand that he was staring at curiously._

Harry felt his throat close up. He could see Ajax's face clearly. Tough bronze skin, glittering brown eyes, wavy black locks that curled at the ends; the fighting stance, the clenched fists, the sickening smirk –

 _...fell bodily down the stairs. His body hit the stone steps at strange angles till he reached the basement, sprawled across the floor like dead weight._

The alcohol odour was strong and stale.

Harry blinked. He was staring at Hermione. He couldn't find the words to say anything. The bracelet was warm with adrenaline.

* * *

The locket was hot with anger. Percy took measured breaths to not draw anyone's attention. Will had already given him a suspicious look that made him believe that the blond knew that Percy was hurt somewhere.

Tom was standing next to him. He knew the ...spirit?... was glaring at him. Percy ignored him. He had bigger things to worry about.

"Ron's right." Annabeth was saying. "Harry and Percy knew each other for years which is why we've gotten this far. But we need to be smart about our next step. A simple meeting isn't going to cut it. We need everyone to meet up in a safe environment."

"You can't have everyone go to a meeting." Silena disagreed. "What about just the Cabin Counsellors?"

"That's not fair!" Kayla scowled at her. "I want to see them too. I already saw them now, so I should get to go as well."

"Yeah!" Stanley added. "Besides, some of the counsellors are not here. So we know more than them."

"How many of us are here, now?" Will asked and they started to count those who were present. "Alright, fourteen of us. We'll include some more for the actual thing."

"Should I remind you how volatile some of us are?" Chris groaned. "Gods, I just got an image of a wizard and demigod fighting, it's not good."

Percy rubbed the side of his temple. It felt like the locket was burning him again. His skin was extremely tender and his camp necklace was doing no favour by rubbing against the burns. He could barely focus on the conversation around him.

"You're subscribing to the Modern Demigod theory." Stanley accused. "If anyone who doesn't know us reads that trash, they'll want to stay away from us. That book's theme is the _debilitating indoctrination of the demigods' motives."_

"I thought it focuses more on the epic hero?"

"Yeah, the guy, Ajax, says something like the times not having changed a thing about us except for the adaptation ability. Constant change, he says. Basically, we're brutal like we were in ancient times, felling empires left, right and centre to get what we want. There's a whole chapter on it, go ahead and read it but don't think he's on our side. If any of the wizards get their hands on that book, they'll set us on fire."

Percy's head was filled with images of Tom's anger, the wizards burning them alive, Ajax grinning down at him. He groaned, but immediately cleared his throat to disguise it. He'd already alarmed them all with his split second decision to tell Harry and Luna about the Come and Go room. Tom had been supremely furious, but Percy had gotten to see how much he'd remembered even if Tom had been the one controlling his body then.

"Percy." Annabeth's voice shattered through the pain and the haze. He opened his eyes and saw her concern, saw everyone looking at him again.

"You need to rest." Kayla said. She pressed her lips together in a firm gesture. "Go back to the Infirmary."

"I'll... I'll be at my cabin, I think that's better..."

Kayla sighed dramatically and turned to shrug at Will.

"It'll be fine. He just needs rest. It'll be better in his cabin." Will acquiesced.

Annabeth and Nico both stood up to help. They blinked at each other, startled by the quick movement.

"It's fine. I know the way. I'm just super tired." Percy said, standing up slowly. He pecked Annabeth's cheek and ruffled Nico's hair before climbing down the stairs and stepping over the old crack in the ground. He could feel their gazes on him but then heard Adam's voice. It was low enough that Percy shouldn't actually be able to hear it, but he could, despite the growing distance.

"When're you gonna tell him about his dad?"

There was a jolt of dread in his heart. What was wrong with his dad? Percy was about to stop and turn back but Tom appeared at his side, grabbing him by the elbow and dragging him towards Cabin 3.

Percy twisted his arm but Tom's grip was sharp, fingers digging into his skin like Delia's claws. His shoes skidded over the earth but he failed and finally walked with him, entering the solemn cabin.

The moment he closed the door he felt Tom's palm press him on the chest. It was a light shove, with barely any physical force behind it, but Percy flew as though the air itself had thrown him across the room. His back hit the stone wall and he fell on one of the bunk beds, the mattress muffling his yell. His body ached with pain that pushed at his skin from inside his body it seemed like.

Tom advanced, power walking towards him and Percy panicked. There was a very painful pull on his gut that made him wince. The water from the fountain slosh around, raising clumsily from the large basin and flowing over Tom's form. Percy didn't have his usual finesse. If it had been anyone else, they'd have been drenched.

Tom wasn't even wet. He was merely enraged, but still immaculate from his neatly pressed clothes to the curls in his hair.

"I'm in your head, Percy." He reminded him.

Percy sat up, sore muscles pulling at all his joints. "For now. I'm not afraid of you, Tom. When the time comes, if you don't keep your promise, your treasures are going to mysteriously vanish into the Bermuda Triangle. Trust me, I've been there, and I'll go back there any day for you."

His eyes flickered red. Percy felt his anger but it only fuelled his own. He was in his cabin, _in his camp_ , who the Hades was some unknown spirit trying to control him? He was a demigod, one of the most powerful of his generation, Tom could not, will not take over.

Percy stepped out of the dusty bunk. His back was sore and he held in a grimace, glaring down at Tom.

"You're in charge, because I let you." Tom murmured.

"No. You were pulling the strings because I was an idiot." Percy grabbed the locket, holding the hot metal in his fist.

"I can find Grover."

"I don't believe you. You lead us into a trap."

Tom stepped forwards but stopped when Percy made to pull at the chain. "I can get your prophecy."

The locket cooled down when Percy froze. "What?"

"The prophecy that made the elder gods to swear off mortals. That stated the convergence of the Second Titan war. The one made about you." Tom raised his hands to appease him. "I know where it is."

"No way."

"Way."

Percy exhaled, frowning and shaking his head. "How would you know?"

"Well, it's obvious, isn't it?" Tom said, flashing a nonthreatening smile at him. He raised his eyebrows ad Percy huffed.

"Not to me. I asked Chiron, he said it's been hidden so that no unsuspecting camper can get to it –"

"He means nobody could ask the Oracle for it." Tom explained. "Which translates to it being taken from the Oracle and recorded so as to hide the piece from potential deserters. Prophecies in the Wizarding world can be stored in memories, with blood magic, runes and so on. I'm sure the gods have ensured a similar obstruction. In this case, I'm fairly certain of where it lies."

Percy felt an unrelenting pressure against the sides of his head. This had to be another trick.

"No tricks, Percy. It's in the Big House. The attic, actually. But you won't be able to find your prophecy without me."

"I'll ask Annabeth."

"Are you sure she'll know?"

"She's heard it."

"And she won't tell you. Doesn't that mean something? Besides..." Tom shrugged, turning slightly away. "Not all the gods trust her like you do. She's always considered in her capacity with Castellan."

Percy gritted his teeth. "Don't talk about him."

Tom sighed. "Alright. I'm sorry. But your prophecy is in the attic and I can help you get it."

"It's not with the Oracle." Percy had gone once, hoping to hear the words that had significantly doomed him before his birth. But the mummy hadn't moved and the Oracle hadn't responded. Annabeth had said that Chiron himself hadn't wanted Percy to hear it too soon. But the wait had not eased his nerves. He wanted to know, even though he hadn't asked them again.

Tom grinned. "You're sure about that?"

* * *

Friday, Oct. 12  
Grimmauld Place – 10:00 p.m.

 _Padfoot,_

 _It's generally considered good when you hear a nemesis' defeat. But this isn't a case like that. It's puzzzling. There's a newbie in town._

 _The bake off must have succeeded. Check back with the clothes store. Bane's on the leash. That ends well._

 _Moony._

The best part about receiving Remus' letter was that it meant he was still alive and safe enough to correspond. The worst part was that it meant he was still on the mission.

The fun part was deciphering what every sentence meant.

"Whose nemesis is he talking about?" Sally asked, looking over the worn piece of scrap paper with a relaxed scrawl.

"He's been heading east since they'd left. I'd say they're near Czech by now. I can only think of Nuremburg." Sirius muttered. The two of them were seated at the kitchen table in London. Sirius looked at her, trying not to blush thinking of the last time they'd seen each other.

When Sally had gotten the message a few days ago from Annabeth that Percy was back at camp, she'd flooed Sirius and had given him a very enthusiastic hug that had nearly choked the life out of him. Then she'd kissed him. Then he'd snogged her. And it sort of escalated from there.

They'd had a busy week after that, so he hadn't gotten a chance to talk to her till she got off work a little early as she always did on Fridays. He'd gotten the letter just about then and Sally had arrived in time to see a large tawny feathered... bird of some sort take flight from the living room windows.

"Anything special about someone's nemesis in Nuremberg?" Sally asked sitting beside Sirius, knees meeting with his, nursing her mug of tea.

He placed his hand next to hers, fingers barely grazing each other. "Dumbledore defeated Gellert Grindelwald sometime in the 1940s. '45 I think. He was the Dark Lord before Voldemort, so... yeah. There we go."

She nodded. "So if this Grindle-guy was already defeated decades ago, what does Moony mean by this?"

He chuckled. "Grindlewald was imprisoned in his own prison called Nurmengard. But there's more to it. Moony misspelled 'puzzling'."

Sally raised an eyebrow. Her fingers danced lightly over his knuckles. "That's unlike him. He must have been in a hurry."

"Nope. This is his lazy writing. He'd have been slumped on a bed or something to write this. It's not ink, see? It's coal."

"What's so mysterious about 'puzzling'?

Sirius placed a digit below the word. "The nemesis' defeat is _puzzling_. Puzzle as in a problem or in this case... riddle."

Sally frowned. "It's going above my head. Is this a magic thing?"

"No, no. It means Tom Riddle. I'm trying to figure out what 'newbie' means."

"A new player in the game, I suppose. Who's Tom Riddle?"

He looked at her, surprised. "It's Voldemort's real name. Didn't you know?"

She sat back. "No. I don't think so."

"I'm sure I told you."

"I'm sure you didn't."

He sighed, exasperated at Sally's guffawing grin. She must have forgotten it. Sirius knew he had told her. He turned back to the letter, going over the message again.

"The rest of this' easy. The bake off and the clothes store means Harry and DJ. And Bane means wolfsbane. So the transformations are in groups. If its on a leash, it means they haven't killed anyone yet."

Sally leaned in. " _All's well_ that ends well. I suppose it could be worse."

He gave a weak chuckle. "This is better than most. The way Moony puts it, Voldemort defeated a nemesis. But his enemy is Dumbledore or the Order..."

Or Harry.

"Maybe Voldemort killed Grindle...ward?"

"Wald."

"Waldo?"

"What?"

"Nothing."

She smirked and darted forwards to kiss him briefly. It was so quick he almost missed it.

"You're very happy." He told her as he blinked rapidly.

Sally shrugged, smiling. "It's been a good week. The boys are back in school, no attacks, no problems, my draft was approved, just a normal life."

Sirius started, eyes widening. "You... it's gone through?!"

Sally placed her mug back onto the table and threw her hands up in the air, her beautiful grin lifting his spirits immediately. "Green lit, baby!"

He yelled and jumped out of his seat, grabbing her by the waist and swinging her around. The letter fluttered to the floor and the table was jostled.

Sally laughed at his enthusiasm. She cupped his face in her hands and for one perfect moment, he was the happiest living entity on the planet. She'd been stressing about her book from day one and the fact that the whole process of the printing was near the beginning of the end was a good distraction from the hectic life of his world.

It had been a week since they'd discovered Mad Eye, imprisoned in his own trunk while Barty Crouch Jr., had impersonated him for several months. The school was short of a DADA teacher and the Ministry was threatening to step in. Dumbledore was under a lot of pressure and the Order had been trying to work overtime in tracking other spies and associates in the UK. Last Sirius had heard, Fudge wanted one of his people to take the job in Hogwarts. Sirius knew that no good would come out of it. Umbridge was already the History of Magic teacher and Merlin only knew what she was teaching them all. Fudge might have been on Albus's side, but he was growing more distrustful as the days went by.

Sally's good news could not have come at a better moment. It did nothing to help the matters with the wizards, but it helped Sirius and that was enough.

He wasn't sure how long they were kissing and giggling when the hearth flared, spitting out bright green flames along with two childhood friends.

Sirius dropped Sally onto her feet, feeling an ache in his back.

Alice and Frank stepped into the kitchen, coughing and wiping the soot from their faces. Sirius was glad to see that their health had improved considerably. They'd regained some of the vigour that had been lost during their time in St. Mungo's. Frank's hair had more dark strands than grey and Alice had grown hers out, tresses grazing just above her shoulders.

But their tense faces told a different story. Sirius felt his own glee dim as they walked up to the table, settling down heavily.

"What happened?" Sally asked, a little stunned. Alice had always made an effort to be cheerful and to see her so morose was startling.

"Grindelwald's dead."

"We figured that." Sirius said slowly, eyes darting from Frank to Alice. "Remus sent a letter."

"Voldemort's in the Bavarian forest." Frank said. "The authorities in Germany found most of the guards in the prison tower dead. The ones who survived confirmed seeing Death Eaters."

Sirius took another chair to collapse in. Sally did the same, placing a hand on Alice's wrist in an attempt to comfort her.

"Why would he go there?" Sirius asked. "What would he gain from killing Grindlewald?"

Alice shrugged helplessly. "I 'ave nahta clue, mate."

He blinked. "What?"

"Sorry, I'm practicing my Scot linguistics. Is it that bad?"

"It's that good." Sally remarked. "Is it a stress reliever?"

"Sort of. Albus asked me if I could handle a class of forty students every day except for the vacations." She replied, still sounding dull.

Sally raised an eyebrow. "A class of... wait, did he ask you to be the Defence teacher?"

Sirius sat up, slack-jawed. In her prime, Alice had been the best out of the Auror trainees. Dorcas had recommended her first for the Order out of all of them. But Sirius didn't think she could go out in the field so quickly after being cured by some miracle. He was always afraid that either she or Frank would relapse back into a state of unawareness.

"Don't start, Sirius." Frank sighed.

"Hey, I'm not objecting! But are you completely alright to do that? Being a teacher's more exhausting than – "

"Than being an Auror, yeah, I remember what Crouch said." Alice agreed. "But it's a good idea. I'll have to be under disguise, though. It's not a problem. Augusta's good at making a Screen charm. It can stay for months and I won't have to worry about being found out –"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes! Sirius, I'm sure! Kingsley's confirmed that Fudge wants Nathan Sharpling to take the job. He's on our list for potential Death Eaters. Dumbledore convinced Fudge to set up a test to select the best. I'll get credit on experience, but I have to read through the newer books to get more info. That's partially why we're here. What d'you have in your library?"

Alice was glaring at him. As much as Sirius wanted to be offended, he couldn't. There had been a time when he'd never though Alice would glare at him again. Back in Hogwarts, every time the Marauders would do something stupid, Lily and Alice would glare and berate them, Melody and Jacob would look downtrodden as though they'd been cursed to exist with the lot of them. Sirius would give practically anything to have them back.

"Yeah, I have some books on Defence and Magical creatures. And to clear things up, I'm glad you're signing up for it. I've no problems having another Order member looking out for the kids at Hogwarts. This year's turning rougher than we'd hoped." He relented.

Alice nodded stiffly. The mood in the room changed when she turned to leer at Sally. "Your hair's all over the place."

Frank chuckled as she hurriedly patted her hair down. Sirius touched his lips and looked at his fingers. Her lipstick had been smushed over his jaw.

* * *

 **Anyone feeling excited? This might seem slow, but really, we're more than half way through (my plan is to finish it before 40 chapters). Once the wizard-demigod meeting is underway, the plot speeds up! Stay tuned, folks!**

 **Did anyone not check out the poll yet? It's on my profile page, take a look, I'd love to see your guesses!**

 **Q: What had happened to Grover in canon in the beginning of The Last Olympian?**

 **Cabba.**


	28. Secrets and secrets

**A: Grover ran into Morpheus, God of Sleep and Dreams, and was put into a two month slumber. ShadeofDeath746, Sherlock Harry Winchester and Catie Cat win this round!**

 **ShadeofDeath746: Yes, I have at least two more stories planned out after this one. It feels like a lot to you, but really, just sit back and enjoy the ride. I have no idea how one simple thought - of the Jacksons moving to England - ran wild and ended up like this. The Patron will be revealed in this story.**

 **Sherlock Harry Winchester: It's great to see you connecting actions between characters. I've based a lot of scenes similarly. I'm glad that this story is making you think and get interested.**

 **Guest: That's where I tie this story in. Gaea has taken extra help in this AU so to counteract that, we have this colliding of worlds. Once I get my groove, I'll write the chapters better!**

 **Catie Cat: Thanks for the concern! Yeah, I had a gruelling month of school and studies. I didn't want to mix it up with the pressure of updating. But I'm back now and mapping out exactly what needs to be in the next chapter.**

 **Listening to – Holding On and Letting Go by Ross Copperman**

* * *

 _Saturday, Oct. 13  
Camp Half-Blood – 9:00 a.m._

"He wasn't hurt. I could tell that much. It was like he was asleep, but more… coma state."

Percy winced. Juniper was seconds away from bursting into sobs. He shouldn't have said that.

"I mean! I mean… He was sleeping, and … I couldn't wake him –"

Juniper sucked in a short breath and dissolved into tears. She hiccupped so hard that her entire body shook. Annabeth immediately brought her into a hug, rubbing her back muttering, "Shh. We'll find him, I promise, Juni."

"B-but …if-if he… doesn't…w-wake…"

"He will!" Percy exclaimed. "I swear, Juniper, I'll find him! I promise… don't cry, please."

He felt his eyes burn in response to her wails. Annabeth's eye widened in a 'Don't-you-dare-cry!-Stay-strong-for-her-now!'

It was a harsh morning, bright with sunlight filtering through the canopies above them. The couple were parked beneath Juniper's tree, relaying Percy's dream of Grover to her. He explained why he thought her boyfriend was in Central Park.

It was a pattern he'd recognized slowly. He pieced together his previous dreams about Grover, coming to the conclusion that the Titans hadn't attacked him, but had left Grover unreachable for some reason. Percy didn't understand that. But he knew he was right about the forest.

Central Park was non-responsive. After Chiron confirmed it, many other demigods had been worried if the nature spirits could be used by Kronos in his army. It seemed like the park wasn't the only place where the dryads couldn't reach their families. There were several forestry territories spread over the east coast, crossing all boundaries. Some of them were not reachable in any way.

It was like in Narnia where the trees that were once really moveable, had fallen silent.

Percy felt Tom's irritation and moved back to the present. He really shouldn't have, but he did. Percy listened to him and had found the prophecy on the mummy's necklace. The fact that the Oracle didn't stop him only made Tom more boastful.

He felt the tiny scroll burning a hole in his pocket. Nobody knew he'd taken it. It had felt like stealing, but the fact was that it was a prophecy about him, he could do what he like,… according to Tom of course.

It was a deal with the devil. Percy felt his neck grow cold and pressed on the part that had been rubbed raw because of the chain. Stupid locket.

After a few minutes of trying to comfort Juniper, she retreated into her tree. Annabeth sighed.

"I need to think."

"That's what you've been doing for the past week, Wise Girl." Percy muttered, getting to his feet. She took his hand and they walked down the hill towards the amphitheatre. Percy laced his fingers with her, feeling the weary pain dissipate slightly. They reached a small group made up of Hermes kids assembled in a corner and Annabeth cleared her throat to interrupt their discussion.

"Connor, I swear to the gods if you're racketeering again – "

"Annabeth! You know me, would I ever –"

Percy stifled a grin when Annabeth glared at him. "Stoll, I know you well enough to do this. Is that Red Bull?"

"Nope."

"Give it here."

"It's not Red Bull. Perce, dude, back me up."

"That's coke, Annabeth." Percy said. She flared her nostrils at him.

"Is it?"

"Yep."

Two kids started to giggle and Connor sighed. "Thanks, pal."

Annabeth ducked to the left and swiped the package Connor had been holding behind him. "Hey -!"

"Kool Aid? Really, Stoll?"

"Really, Chase. Now give it back!"

Annabeth smirked and ran away, heading for the Big House. Connor was at her heels shouting, "Not cool! Annabeth, please!"

Percy stared in amazement. Just a few days at camp and she had relaxed quite a bit. She laughed at his lame jokes and let him moan about the heavy meat servings at Ares' table. Her previous distant attitude which had come with the instance of monster attacks while she lived with her family, and the news of her aunt's death, had waned a good portion. He was sure it still lingered, but camp had its positive outlook which persisted even against the odds.

He heard Annabeth laughing when Connor started to swear. Despite the crude words, Percy smiled.

Small hands tugged on his shorts. He looked down and found one of the new campers, even younger than Harley, looking up at him. She had tiny black pigtails, and shocking bright blue eyes set in olive toned skin. Percy immediately spotted her bitten nails and could read the worry in her eyes.

"Hi." He told her. "My name is Percy."

" Ith Thea." She said. She had a lisp and he kneeled to let her cup her hands on the side of his face. She whispered loudly, "Are thyou really, Perthy Jacthon?"

Another kid giggled and Percy raised an eyebrow towards them.

"Yeah." He stage whispered. "I am."

Her eyes widened like he'd made her day.

"Alright." He picked her up, swinging her onto his waist. "Come on, then. No Kool Aid for you lot, let's see if we can get some coke."

By the time he got half a dozen sorted to their soft liquids, Annabeth was back with a flushed face. She panted, placing her hands on her hips to look at what he'd arranged. "Nice work, Percy. Giving ADHD kids extra energy sugar drinks."

"It's not like it has the same effect, you know that." Percy looked back at them, winking. "I'm giving them a little sword training after this."

The kids cheered and Annabeth laughed. "Alright. I'm going for Greek theory, meet you back for lunch?"

"You're not staying for practice?"

He caught her hand and she shook her head, "Nope. You can handle it. I need to coordinate with Katie and Silena for expanding the prospective group for the magical meeting."

Percy grimaced. "That's what we're calling it?"

She shrugged. "Think of a better name." She kissed his cheek and the kids went, "Ooooh!"

The soft fluttering feeling in his chest seemed to burst when he saw her smile, devoid of any stress. He pulled her back and kissed her, causing commotion behind him, but that noise seemed to fade away when she sighed softly.

"We'll figure it out." She whispered. Annabeth patted his chest and waved him bye.

Percy tried to smile. He wished he had her current optimism. Usually, he was the one with the positive prayers, but… well, he blamed it all on Tom.

The silence in his head, made him wonder if his parasite was even listening. That seemed to always happening. Anytime he spent an extended amount of time with Annabeth, Tom was always scarce. An absence of a malevolent spirit was meant to be a good thing, he supposed. But while Percy welcomed the change, it still felt ominous.

 _A half blood of the eldest gods  
Shall reach sixteen against all odds  
And see the world in endless sleep  
The hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap  
A single choice shall end his days  
Olympus to preserve or raze._

Percy shuddered. He knew that if he opened the scroll again, he'd read himself in the prophecy so easily. But there was one sentence that troubled him more than the rest, even the last. He should tell someone.

 _See the world in endless sleep_ … like the forests… like Central Park…

It was connected, he knew. But it wasn't just his role to play. Annabeth knew the prophecy, so did Chiron and the gods, and even with it all building to a crescendo, they wouldn't tell him.

It was moments like this that made Percy suspect Annabeth, despite everything.

* * *

 _Saturday, Oct. 13  
Dynasty Apartments – 10:00 a.m._

Sirius knew with everything that was happening, a time out was out of the question. But Harry's well being still posed a priority, so here he was, sitting with Rachel's dad on the sit-out of their building. Patrick was hospitable enough despite the odd sense of humour.

Sirius didn't despise him, but… it felt like Patrick was intentionally talking in circles.

"If at first you don't succeed… you're fired!"

Sirius knew his laugh was convincing enough, but Patrick was worse at joking than Harry and that was a reality that wasn't exactly difficult to accept.

"Isn't that more of an anti-joke?" He wondered. Patrick coughed. "Is it? It's still funny, though."

"Ah ha ha. So… where's Beatrice at?" Sirius asked to change the subject. He wouldn't be able to stand another attack on humour.

"She's in Aquitaine. It's getting busy this time of the year. An odd turn, if you ask me. I might have to leave for Juneau before the month ends, we're checking up on all the branches." Patrick replied sipping on his coffee.

"And what is it the two of you do? I thought you worked separately."

"Oh we do. My stock market business is done on the side, to be honest. Beatrice's company keeps us afloat. I'm like her silent partner. I have my name on the paper... but you know how it goes."

Sirius nodded, having no clue. "Sure. So, business is good?"

"Yes, definitely. B has an excellent staff and they have excellent under management. It's just hectic. I really want to take a vacation, it's been a few years since we had some time off. I'll try to wrangle something during the summer. We already promised Rachel that we'd be in the Caribbean the moment the school lets her out. Say, do you think the boys will be interested?"

"The Caribbean?" Sirius sat up. The two men had a wide view of the city, beyond which lay the far waters of the ocean. The scene was breath taking and Sirius had used that to distract himself from Patrick's jokes but this pulled his attention back.

"You mean the Caribbean Islands?"

"Yes. Do you know any other Caribbean, Sirius?"

He rolled his eyes. "Back to the fact, you wouldn't mind Harry and DJ there?"

"Well, I'd hoped it to be a family trip. No sense in not including the family, eh?"

Patrick raised his eyebrows and beamed. Sirius blinked. What businessman looked like a easy-going chap?

"I really don't... It sounds amazing, to be honest. I've never been there."

"Then by all means, join us! Well, I hope we will be able to make the trip possible. Tell you what, I'll confirm it in April. We all need a time out once in a while before it gets to us."

Patrick didn't know what was happening in another part of the world, but the words applied very well. Sirius really did want to get away from the atmosphere of doom. The castle was being subjected to the Ministry's scrutiny after what happened last week, Moody was still in St. Mungo's, and Harry still had troubled sleeping hours. Getting out of the country once a week helped him. Sirius guessed it was the cold of Scotland that was getting to everyone. At least the US coast was warm for now. And the Caribbean would be even warmer.

"That means a lot, Patrick. Thank you." Sirius said, fervently. Even if they couldn't make the trip, he vowed to take the boys somewhere warm, bright and colourful, far away from the war.

"You're welcome. Ooh, I've just got a good one. Why did the doughnut maker retire?"

In the kitchen, safe from Patrick Dare's assault of terrible jokes, Rachel and DJ sat at the counter while Harry punched the green tinted dough for something called 'ginger biscuits'. Rachel arranged the platter that held extra flour, ready to be sprinkled onto the biscuit once it was done baking.

"When did you start baking? Like, at what age?" She asked, leaning on both arms.

"Probably six. The Dursleys were happy to let me have reign of things there as long as what I made suited their taste palates... I guess I could have seen it as a chore, but really, spending hours without them, engrossed in Lily's cookbook changed everything."

DJ raised his eyebrows. "Aunt Lily had a cookbook? You never told me!"

"The red book she'd left with the guitar."

"I thought that was her music book."

"Turns out, it was her everything book." Harry replied. He set the bowl down and reached for a small brown pouch that dangled around his neck on a string. It was smaller than his fist, barely enough to fit in a few coins. Rachel couldn't fathom what he was about to do until he pulled at the mouth of the pouch to open it and stuck his arm down, right up till his elbow.

She gave a shriek and practically toppled off her chair. She didn't hit the ground though. Her breath whooshed away from her as she bounced, inches from the floor and landed with a soft, painless thud.

DJ had thrown his hands up, palms facing her, to catch her just in time. Harry rushed around the counter just as Owen ran in from the foyer.

Owen Aurick was the weekend chef who was scheduled to prepare her meals generally. Nearly sixty, with constant tense shoulders, Rachel knew he was more than a little nervous about having a kid in his domain. Owen had promised to stay out of the room but he did peek around to look at them everyone once in a while. Rachel was sure he was expecting something to go up in flames.

"Rachel! You alright?" DJ gasped.

"I...fine. I'm fine. It's alright. Owen, I'm fine, really. I just slipped." She placated them, as Owen reached down to help her up. She got to her feet, planting them firmly to get a bearing on herself. Harry was now holding a slightly tattered bright red notebook with yellowing pages, that nearly matched the measure from his wrist to the tip of his middle finger. He had the small pouch in his other hand and Rachel shook her head, chuckling to herself.

"I'm definitely good." She said, authoritative. Owen let go of her arm and nodded stiffly, walking without backward glance.

"Thanks." She added to DJ. "That was quick."

"I've had a lot of practice." He mumbled, sitting back down, watching her as though she might fall again. Rachel recognized that expression. Harry was mimicking him. They were worried she was too fragile. Her parents would occasionally shoot these looks at her and it always aggravated her. She pushed the frustration behind a wide toothed smile and held out her hand for the book. Harry wordlessly gave it to her and went back to his dough.

She flipped through the pages. Lily's handwriting was long and slender like Rachel imagined the woman to have looked like. Well, she had seen what the woman had looked like. Lovely, daringly gorgeous with long deep red wavy hair that made anyone jealous or awestruck. In contrast to her, Rachel was too bony and gangly, still all limbs because of a recent growth spurt. She had an unbalanced number of dark freckles on her face, her hair was too frizzy and had to always be tied lest it got tangled. It really wasn't fair. Harry had gotten the sweep-off-your-feet beauty and grace that Lily seemed to exude even through a picture that was a decade and a half old. Rachel didn't even have James's casual charm.

Harry had always called their biological parents by their names. He didn't seem too bothered by the distinction but Rachel sometimes wondered if there was a story behind that.

"It's near the end." He said. "DJ, put on flour gloves and roll these into galleon sized disks."

"Flour gloves?"

"Just pat the powder over your palms."

DJ obliged while Rachel sat back on the chair to look around the large kitchen. She usually didn't spend much time here, since she practically never cooked. She did boil water once. Using the oven gloves.

"Rach, where's the trays?"

"Um..."

Owen popped up in the door way again and said, "Ms. Dare, they're in the second cupboard on the right."

"Thanks, Owen." She said, reaching for them. "You don't have to worry about us. Harry sort of knows what he's doing."

"I definitely know what I'm doing." Harry corrected her. She laid the first tray beside it and watched him grease it. She hoped the biscuits would be edible. Harry was confident in his skills, but she'd never eaten something made by a non-professional.

DJ stretched, letting out a yawn. "Erm... just a thought... I haven't seen Bolt all day, Rach. Where's she?"

Sulking because a Titan gave me an offer to join his army and I haven't decided or told anyone about it.

"Sleeping." Rachel shrugged, finding the page where Lily had written 'Mel's Ginger Snap Biscuits'. "She likes napping as a tiger. Um, she hasn't given oven directions."

"Magic."

"Right." Unconsciously gripping the book tighter than necessary, Rachel looked over another page. "Pumpkin pie, Leek Soup... Haggis?"

"Ooh!" Harry blinked. "I should try that!"

"I've had that once." DJ muttered, examining the coin sized disks he'd made. "They weren't that good."

"Then whoever made them didn't know what it was they were doing. You can try it when I make them." Harry said, self importantly.

"Is there anything you can't make?" DJ asked, exasperated.

Harry fell quiet. Rachel looked up and caught him in a mock frown.

"Seriously?"

"I'm still thinking." Harry mumbled.

DJ puffed up his chest like he was about to either laugh or blow a gust at him to knock him away. Before an argument could break out, Rachel shut the book and raised her voice. "Guys! So, tell me what's happening with your teacher!? Like... he was an imposter, right?"

Harry exhaled so dramatically that she pressed her lips together to hold in a smile. He recognized the change in topic, taking in the sight of DJ's flushed face.

"You know the gist. Mad Eye was never Mad Eye, but a Death Eater who managed to fool literally _everyone_. Either we're all idiots or he was really good at it."

"Yeah, but someone found out." DJ added, calming down. "And someone got really mad and killed him."

"Who?"

"Dunno. All we found out is that it wasn't the killing curse even though most of the symptoms showed that. Sirius didn't say much about it." Harry sighed, pouring the right quantity of batter into each mould.

"The real question is why did they have to kill him during the Hogsmeade trip? Now we're never going to get into the village." DJ complained.

"I'm sorry for your suffering, DJ." Rachel said sardonically. "You said the papers called the killer a vigilante?"

"Basically... honestly it could have been another Death Dater too. May be Crouch had made a mistake, may be he was going to expose himself, some plan might have gone wrong and Voldemort wanted to be rid of him." Harry suggested. "Point is that it happened despite all the security. It was too close to the castle as well, so that's got a lot of parents worried."

"Not to mention, Crouch was seriously adept at duelling. The _vigilante_ lured him down to Zonko's cellar, killed him without alerting anyone else and left no clues behind. I mean, we were in the shop while he was being killed." DJ shuddered at the end.

Harry stopped for a moment. "How's... how did Ginny... cope?"

DJ placed his chin on his hand. "For a moment, she'd nearly lost it. I really thought she was going to set the whole shop on fire, to be honest. I panicked."

"But you calmed her down." Rachel remembered when they first talked about it. "She's fine, right?"

"Yeah... but I was ..." DJ shook his head. "I really thought we'd have to use the portkey, but she held on. It was pretty scary. Don't tell her I said that."

Rachel nodded. "She really can do fire bender stuff, then?"

"Fire bender? I like that. Yeah, it's cool when she's in control. It's just when...she isn't, you know... that it gets super bad super fast." DJ concurred.

"Like how?"

Harry smiled. It caught Rachel off guard, he usually reserved his smiles for ... not much.

"If you piss her off, she lops fire balls at you. It's hot."

"Fire balls are hot!" DJ exclaimed. "What are you on about?"

Harry's face went pink and Rachel let out a loud, "Awwwww! You like her! You like Ginny!"

"What?" DJ's jaw dropped. "No way! Really, Harry! I thought –"

He cut himself off.

"Thought what?" Harry asked, face now red. Rachel was glad to find someone who blushed as furiously as she did.

"Um... nothing."

"No, seriously DJ, what?"

It was DJ's turn to colour. Rachel blinked, sharing a look with Harry. It looked like he was hiding some sordid secret that could scandalise the world if it ever got out.

"It's nothing. I mean, it's not bad. It shouldn't be. It's just the common rumour."

"I haven't heard this common rumour."

"Yeah, well..."

"DJ..."

"Fine. I heard from Daphne that she overheard two Hufflepuffs talking about the Gobstones Club who found out from the second years in the library where the study session with the Ravenclaws went all messed up because they were arguing about the article Rita Skeeter had written last week –"

"DJ!"

"The article, Harry!" DJ yelled. "I'm really sorry! She wrote that you were racist and –"

He clapped a hand over his mouth, terrified of continuing. Harry dropped the empty bowl which teetered near the edge of the platform. Rachel leaned back in shock.

"What?!"

"That bitch." Harry whispered. "I'll kill her!"

" Whoa! What? Who's this Rita Skeeter?" Rachel threw a hand in front of Harry as he made to rush out of the kitchen as though he really were planning to kill her. Judging by the look on his face, it was believable.

"She's a complete – wait, why the hell am I hearing this only now? Nobody's told me!"

DJ winced. "Sorry, I just heard it the day before. Harry, you have to know, they took down the article before the weekend was out –"

"I'm still killing her!"

"How about suing her?" Rachel suggested. "That'd go over better. But seriously, who's this character now?"

Rachel sat back and listened to them explain about the reporter who had been a thorn in their side since DJ's first year. Apparently she had hinted at drawing conclusions of Harry having racist outlooks even back then. Rachel personally had never encountered people like her, but her parents have and she gave the advice they gave to her.

"You can't stay quiet about this, Harry? There's a time and place to choose what action to do. You can write to her, demanding a public apology. Do it like an open letter. And don't demand, just use a passive aggressive stance."

"Or I could just –"

"You're not killing her, Harry." DJ said, firm. Harry sighed again, picking up the bowl and dropping it into the basin.

"What else?"

"Huh?"

"What else did she call me?" Harry faced DJ with folded arms. The latter looked like a trapped mouse.

"Um... "

"I need to know."

"Fine! It's just... Nobody believes it, okay, Harry! It's fine!"

"DJ, calm down. Just spill!"

"She sort of implied you were a ... homophobe." DJ winced as the word left a sour taste in everyone's mouth. Rachel felt a hot, hateful strike of thunder in her chest, worse than a slap. It left a sharp sting in her throat. She immediately looked at Harry for his response.

His expression was like glass with cracks in it. Another tap and it would shatter. Rachel wondered at what exactly he was angry at. It was getting to personal. She felt a little sidelined.

"How did she think of that one?" Harry settled on invoking attitude.

"Probably because she assumed..." DJ's voice trailed off so high that his voice cracked. Rachel and Harry leaned forwards in an attempt to hear him.

"A little quicker, please."

"She thinks you're gay. I mean... it's not just her – but that's not an excuse... I have no problems, Harry! I still love you!" DJ ended up yelling, sweating quite a bit.

Rachel smiled. She suddenly liked him ten times more than before. Harry was stone still till he raised his head and looked at the ceiling with a groan. "I didn't know people could be homophobic and gay at the same time."

"They could, actually. They could internalize the hatred and turn it on themselves and others. It's ugly." Rachel nodded. She looked up, feeling a prickle of hesitance but saying it nonetheless. "You're no homophobe, are you?"

"No Rachel, I'm not. I'm not racist either and neither am I gay."

Harry blinked rapidly as he went back to the counter where DJ had finished with the dough rolling. He started to place the shaped dough into the moulds of the second tray. She frowned and saw DJ tilting his head in suspicion as well.

"Harry?" He called.

"Hmm."

"You know I can tell when you're lying?"

"I'm not homophobic! I swear!"

"Alright, but that look you had –"

"I'm not racist, either."

"I believe you on that." DJ said. Rachel's eyes widened when Harry fell silent suddenly.

"Oh my ...! Are you gay?"

Excitement rose in her chest. Finally! An LGBT+ friend! She needed –

"I'm not gay!" Harry said again, but she noticed him averting his eyes. She looked at DJ who was ready to badger him with questions when she announced, "I'm pan-romantic!"

The boys looked up and stared at her, eyes so wide, she worried if they'd pop out. She felt her face grow hot. She'd come out years ago to her parents who'd, amazingly, had absolutely no problems with her. It had taken her months for her nine year old self to type those words into her computer to find out what the entire world of the non-heteronormative was. It was beautiful and large and sadly, hidden, till she tried to dig them out.

"Pan...romantic?" DJ asked. "Is that like pansexuality? 'Cause I know that one."

"Sort of. I mean. I keep switching between pan romantic and pansexual personalities." She admitted. She couldn't believe she was telling this to an outsider. The only people who knew were her parents. Not even Percy, her previously imaginary friend had known.

"So... you like... you can like people of all genders?" DJ was getting excited for some reason.

"That's one way to put it. Another is that I really love pans."

He burst out laughing and she followed, trying not to muffle the sound. Harry still looked stunned, but he wasn't staring at her with any sort of judgement. His eyes had glazed over, looking right through the floor. He was in deep thought and she wondered if he really was stuck so far back in the closet. That was fine.

"Harry... it's alright... we won't say anything." Rachel said. Harry blinked, widening his eyes again like she'd read his mind. She'd never felt so confident discussing about her sexuality. It felt like any other open topic. Her parents were one thing, but this was a new territory.

"You're gay!" DJ crowed and Rachel smacked his head. "Er! I mean... how long do you think the biscuits will take?"

* * *

 **Excuse the delay. This chapter's like a filler, because I'm too sick to go back to the plot. But it has some interesting reveals that you will want to keep in mind for the upcoming storyline.**

 **Q: Which Olympian God is very protective of their weapon/symbol of power? (More so than others)**

 **Cabba.**


	29. Fear of the Known

**A: All deities are protective over their weapons, but Percy emphasises on how Sea Gods in particular are very possessive of their belongings. He mentions this in MCGA – Ship of the Dead.**

 **Your guesses were great. Of course all fingers point to those three...**

 **Sherlock Harry Winchester: Good one. Zeus always seems the most dangerous in these situations. There's an old saying, when in doubt, the answer's Zeus. DJ's definitely supportive, and openly curious.**

 **ShadeofDeath746: You're right, I should stop calling them fillers. I just get nervous of not including enough plot and going off on a tangent, but this is equally important. I plan to add more about diverse sexualities and genders in the story, as well as trying to not force them. My layout is good enough, I've been thinking about this for months and I've been revising on how exactly to incorporate this into the story.**

 **Guest: Thanks so much. I've been working to make the story more diverse in these terms. When I first started writing I'd not given it much thought at all, but now that I know more about it, I'm adding them in. You're getting pansexual/panromantic Rachel, bisexual Harry, and a host of old characters that are not straight. I'm building on Nico's growing confidence of his homosexuality. He's nervous in canon, but here, he's going to learn more and that's** _ **good**_ **.**

 **This chapter is longer, but there are parts where it moves fast. Like, you might feel like something's been skipped. Don't worry, it's just because I didn't want to add too many 'thoughts', so all there's left is dialogue.**

 **Warning – depictions of gore**

* * *

Thursday, Oct. 18  
The Dynasty Apartment – 2:00 a.m.

 _There was a dead tiger sprawled in front of her. Rachel watched without any semblance of horror, pain or shock. The familiarity of the animal should have struck her, but she simply kept her eyes trained on its prone form, eyes trailing over the flies buzzing the open neck wound, blood matting the once gorgeous pelt, and its stomach ripped open, long trails of intestines unwinding over the floor. Its head was lying just inches away from the neck. Its decapitation and further torture had been cruel._

 _For some reason, she didn't feel any revulsion towards the scene. As though she did this all the time, Rachel kneeled on the floor and took a closer look at the entrails. It smelled. It looked like shriveled pink and red snakes. It made her think of a language she ought to remember but wasn't allowed._

 _Before she could reach out to touch the innards,_ the dream dissolved and she awoke _._

And once Rachel recalled whose corpse she'd dreamed, she began to scream.

* * *

 _Hogwarts – 12:30 p.m._

"I. Hate. Her." Hermione hissed with such vitriol that Ron and Harry recoiled.

The 'her' in question, as anyone could guess, was Umbridge, who had successfully managed to wrangle in a new textbook as part of Hogwarts' syllabus in History of Magic. 'The Disquisition on Defunct Discourses' was a book that had nine hundred pages of utter drivel. Harry had gone through the index and had seen chapter titles called 'Is Diversity Necessary?', 'On the Catastrophe of Imagination in Spell Usage', and 'Goblins, House Elves, Trolls, Oh My!'

The author was thankfully 'anonymous' or else would have died under the thousand hated thoughts of a thousand Hogwarts students. Everyone, from the third to the fifth years, was made to subscribe to the book. The classes were the worst. Umbridge expected them to reach every chapter in her class. Nobody was even allowed to use the book as a pillow, which many considered was the greatest offence.

And as usual, Hermione was the first in their group to point out the horrendous flaws in the book.

"It's unbelievably regressive!" She continued in her heated tone. The trio was seated near the back, heads bent over the stupid thing. Harry agreed wholeheartedly. He didn't expect her to start a rant during the class where Umbridge would always keep an eye on them, no matter where they sat.

Ron however seemed entranced. "I've never seen you hate a teacher this much!"

His whisper carried unfortunately and Umbridge looked up from her desk, glaring at the source of the sound. They immediately looked back at their texts, keenly staring at the words till her gaze shifted. Harry exhaled, perking his ears up when Hermione began to speak again.

"…ridiculous! That's why I'm not even bothering with her. Look at this."

Harry tilted his head, running a hand through his hair casually. He saw Hermione open a new parchment piece over the book where her tiny writing extended nearly half of the page.

"Have you heard of the seven fold Vervion protection?" She asked.

It struck a chord in Harry's memories. He couldn't recall it but Ron said, "Yeah, that's the best kind of protection there is. It was in the papers that Hogwarts has that now."

Hermione stared at Ron. "Yes, that's …right."

"I do know stuff, Hermione."

"I know! It's just… um… so anyway, the – the enchantment was breached on the second of October, with no alteration done to the wards. When Sirius came to the Ministry to pick me up after the attack on the village, this man called Broderick Bode summoned him so we went to another department to meet with him."

"Bode?" Ron frowned as though he knew the name.

"He's an Unspeakable." Hermione said in a hushed voice. "Have you heard of him?"

"I dunno. But it sounds familiar."

"Is that Trelawney's name?" Harry asked, pointing to one of the only readable words in her writing from a distance. Hermione looked up to check on Umbridge and then turned to Harry, nodding.

"Bode's a fan of Cassandra Trelawney. He said that she'd apparently predicted a type of magic that could bypass any kind of protection. It sounded gibberish to me, but I later remembered that we have powers beyond comprehension across the pond…"

She raised her eyebrows at Harry who pulled the sheet towards him.

 _Hogwarts breached, map stolen, no signs of forced entry,_ _no doctoring of shield_ _, Seven fold Vervion protection – failed, CT – believable factor, Olympians, the powers that be, V and DE, Hecate. LE – ask Harry.  
Why the map? To keep an eye on us, to be under the radar. Do they know __how to use_ _the map – it was not public info.  
Trelawney – BB believes her, how much could she do? Prophecies have been known to work, but to what extent?  
Limitations of Core; Lack of control of Core  
Panic curse. Village attack – to hide Crouch's murder?  
If the map thief got in once, how many times have they gotten in before and after?  
Are the thief and murderer connected or coincidence?_

He stopped at 'Hecate' for a moment. Was it worth considering her at all for the problem? He knew that she wasn't his patron, but if she was out of reach for the gods she may not be associated at all. May be wizards had a completely different origin. May be they'd never find out.

Harry went down the list. He was struck by the thought of her considering if the map thief and Crouch's murderer was the same person. It was plausible, but he couldn't see any connection. The more troubling aspect was if the thief could get in again. He didn't like that idea.

As if they needed anymore problems.

"Grimmauld Place." Ron whispered and Harry looked up, realizing that the conversation took a turn.

"You might be right." Hermione muttered, looking worried. He nudged her elbow and said, "What about it?"

"I was saying that if we needed extra security measures, we know that the Order stored a lot of those things in London. Fred and George told me about the dozens of boxes they'd seen some of the people bring into the house. Apparently they had all sorts of gimmicks like sealed portkeys, sneakoscopes, floo powder, extra wands –"

"Wands?" Harry asked, surprised. "When was this?"

"I dunno. One of the nights, I suppose. The twins were up planning something and that's how they found out. But we have no idea where they could have hidden them."

Hermione tapped her scroll and hissed. "Are you suggesting we steal from these boxes to help secure the magical meeting with the demigods?"

"Um… no… but if you're suggesting it, I'll support you."

"How are we going to manage stealing from the Order?" Hermione now sounded very stressed, her voice going high. Umbridge look up and cleared her throat and the three of them went back to their books, heads bent low to look innocent.

Hermione crumpled the parchment in his fist and dropped it into her bag. Umbridge got up and took a slow stroll around the class.

Harry gritted his teeth as she approached them. He focused on the page in front of him.

 _Wizards take for granted the current spell usage, relying on hope of furthering their situation or always looking back into the past, worried for things that have happened. This wasteful use of time and energy result in blaming those with solid intentions of Luddite attitude…_

Stupid book.

Umbridge hadn't moved from her spot. He could feel her, practically breathing down his neck. IF he sat up straight he was sure that their heads would bump. May be he should –

The bell rang. She immediately walked to the front and Harry sighed in relief.

"One minute, children." Umbridge called out, her saccharine voice souring his mood even further. She pulled out a magazine from her desk. It had a glossy vermillion cover with bright yellow snitches on the front. Harry couldn't see what brand it was but many of the students suddenly started whispering. At least five of them turned back to look at him.

"I'm sure some of you have heard of this publication called 'Hotspot Signs' and its flashy little article last few days ago. I'm glad to say it was taken down swiftly and I hope the person concerned has been issued a due apology."

Harry swallowed. She was taking about him. It was obvious now because she was now looking directly at him with some kind of pity in her eyes. He felt like he was burning as more people started to stare.

"Such false information will not be condoned in any way or form. If anyone here is aware of similar attacks, please report to me and I will make sure the matter is dealt with in the strictest possible mode."

She smiled wide but Harry heard a ringing in his ears. She didn't even have to say his name. The staring had already begun.

Harry left the class, feeling the hairs on the back of his neck stand. He could feel the entire castle staring.

"Hey, move it! Harry, wait up!" Ron was calling from behind. He exhaled, slowing down in the busy corridor and watched as Ron and then Hermione reached him. He shoved his hands into his pockets.

"What was that, Harry? What did she mean –"

"You didn't hear about the article, I suppose." Harry said dully. Hermione blinked.

"No… What article?"

"It's nothing… it's fine. There's absolutely… it's fine."

They walked towards the staircase in silence. Harry thought back to DJ's confession and Rachel's confession and his silence. He wasn't gay. No, it was getting a little obvious now. He was bisexual at least. He didn't know what the difference between pan and bi was, but he thought bi suited him more. He supposed he could ask Rachel to explain what being pan is. The vital thing was that she and DJ didn't mind. May be he could tell Hermione and Ron too. They wouldn't think it weird or bad. A tiny amount of hesitance grated on his nerves. Now that Umbridge had brought everyone's attention to the deleted article, Harry was sure someone in the castle would find it and everyone would realize that Harry wasn't straight.

Not that he didn't mind… he'd rather tell people himself than let them find out from Skeeter's writing.

"Er, Harry?"

"Hmm?"

"Did Sirius tell you he'd be here today?"

Harry frowned, turning around to disagree when he spotted what Ron was staring at. Hermione and he slowed down as well. Sirius and Snape were at the end of the hallway, with their backs to the teens. Harry recognized the Snape's billowing black robes and Sirius' long hair. The passage was empty except for the five of them and the adults weren't aware that they were being watched.

"He didn't." Harry muttered. "It looks like they're having a civil conversation."

"Stranger things have happened." Hermione said, but the three of them kept watching till Sirius and Snape walked away, heading for another flight of stairs descending.

"Come on!"

Harry rushed to follow them. They took a turn and found the two men walking down, floor after floor till they were on the ground.

"I think they're heading for the dungeons." Ron whispered as they ran down the steps.

"I'd never have thought Sirius would go there willingly."

"May be he's going to talk about your Occlumency lessons, Harry?"

"Ugh." He said. "I'm glad we dropped those."

"But it's necessary!"

"Not the way Snape does it."

Most of the students might have left for lunch, which explained the barely crowded corridor. As they reached the dungeons, Hermione grabbed the back of Harry's robes to pull him to a stop.

"What?"

"Shh!"

They pressed their backs to the wall, falling silent. Harry heard more voices from inside the Potions classroom.

"Is that…" Ron asked slowly. "An Order meeting?"

Kingsley's voice was the clearest. It was low with enough weight that everyone else stopped whispering.

"Sirius, Severus, please put aside your differences for at least an hour."

"It's his fault!"

"Sirius, shut up." Tonks snapped.

"Everyone, please listen. Alice, are you ready?"

"Yes, Albus. I can start tomorrow."

"That's one problem solved. I hate to be the bearer of bad news –"

"But you're going to, anyway."

"My office was broken into."

"What?"

"Oh Merlin!"

"The hell!"

Hermione's jaw dropped. Harry stared at her and Ron, wide eyed and then leaned in closer to the wall to hear them more clearly.

"What did they take?"

"The ring."

"Oh shit."

"Do you think it's the intruder who stole the map?"

Ron opened his mouth to yell and Harry and Hermione slapped their palms over his face. Molly and Arthur Weasley were also in the room. It definitely was a major discussion.

"Possibly. There were absolutely no problems with the wards. Someone has figured out how to manoeuvre around it."

"Ask Potter. He wanders to the States and back anytime he wishes."

"Snape, I swear –"

"Sirius, Snape's right to a degree. Harry can go –"

"That's because the castle knows he's a student! It allows him –"

"The wards do not allow anyone to simply walk through them. Not even the students. Harry knows another way and I want you to question him, Sirius."

"Unless you know how he does it and haven't told us."

"You know how he leaves. Lily could do the same thing –"

"She couldn't travel between continents. He can. That has some of us wondering what else he can do."

Harry swallowed. He grabbed Ron and Hermione's hands and backed away.

"What?" She mouthed.

"We can go to London now!" Harry hissed.

Hermione gaped. "No, Harry!"

"Everyone's here! They'll be here for an hour, we can go to Grimmauld Place, find the boxes and come back."

"Do you know where they are?" Ron asked, looking back in worry. They started to run towards the exit.

"I have a hunch." Harry muttered.

* * *

The hearth at Frost came to life. Green flames spit out Percy and Nico, both of whom landed neatly on their feet, covered in soot.

Harry looked at them in dismay. "How did you guys learn to floo so nicely? It took me ages."

Percy shrugged. "Eh. We're awesome like that. What's the plan?"

"We go to London, find the boxes with the necessary stuff – "

"The boxes we've never seen."

"They're in the attic." DJ explained, arms folded, a sullen look on his face. "That's the one room none of us are allowed in, so it's our best guess."

"Our guesses are usually bad." Nico pointed out.

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Well, then it's a good thing we're going together. Fred and George promised to keep the Order busy if they decided to come back early. We have forty minutes left."

"So stop chatting, would you?" Neville said, nervously. He and Hermione were the only ones who looked out of place in the grand hall of Frost. Neither of them had been here before, but it was new to Ron and Ginny as well, who still learned to take things in stride.

"We're going to get into so much trouble." Hermione whispered, grabbing a hand full of the floo powder.

They took turns to reach the London safe house. Frost was the only house which had a direct floo connection to Grimmauld Place. It was preserved to keep the option of an emergency exit intact. In case anything happened to the safe house, the inhabitants could floo out and lock the hearth. Sirius had also added extra portkeys that were safely stored in the hall room of Grimmauld Place, inside the old wooden cupboard beside the windows.

The eight of them reached the empty house and Harry gazed around in dismay. It was colder than usual as though the temperature had been purposefully kept low. "Homenum Revelio." Hermione said, pointing her wand upwards. "All clear."

Percy pulled the on the sides of his jacket to cover his front. He shivered as though they were outside in sub zero weather.

"How important exactly are these boxes?" Nico asked as they climbed the stairs.

"They have protections against Conterō. If you want to hold a potentially destructive meeting, we need the best kind of enchantments to hold out against a fight. The futility in the exercise, though painfully obvious, might be worth it if we succeed which is why I'm going through with this." Hermione said, stiffly.

Ron sighed. "In other words, the Order's assembled an army's worth of protection spells in the attic. If we can get some of them, we can keep the meeting safe."

"Alright. I have another doubt." Nico continued. "Why is the Order in the castle rather than in the safe house. Isn't the whole point of the safe house lost, then?"

"Probably has to do with Crouch. He knew the address. Even if he couldn't tell anyone, it put the house at risk." Hermione explained.

It was clear that Hermione was in a bad mood so the questions stopped and they reached the top floor with the locked door. Harry tried the door manually and then with a few spells, in vain.

"We really don't have time to waste – " Neville began and DJ threw up his arms.

"This is great. Excellent planning, Harry!"

"You don't have to yell!"

"I could try opening it from the inside." Nico suggested, looking around for a proper shadow on the wall or floor.

"We don't know what kind of enchantment it is, Nico. It's best not to try." Hermione sighed.

"Alright. How about we destroy the door and then fix it later?" Ginny suggested.

"How do you fix it if –" Percy was saying, trying to shake the door handle. There was a click and the door swung open.

There was dead silence.

Harry might have dropped his wand if Percy didn't try smiling at them.

"What..." Hermione gasped. "Percy, how did you do that?!"

"I don't know! I just pushed it!"

"But it was magically locked!"

"I know!"

"Then how –"

"Can we discuss this after we get out?" Neville asked loudly, wringing his hands. Ron, who was frozen beside him, started.

"What just happened?"

"Percy opened the door." Ginny stated, frowning up at him.

Nico stepped forwards and peered around the room. "This is gonna take a while."

The attic took up the entire fourth floor it seemed. There were rows of tall shelves and at least a hundred cardboard boxes spread out all over the dusty floorboards. The windows were curtain less and sun light streamed in through the dirty window panes illuminating a treasure room, it seemed.

"Percy..." Hermione asked, frowning. "When was the last time you were at Hogwarts?"

"Been a few months... why?"

She was staring at him, smoke practically leaking from her ears. Harry found himself thinking along the same lines. The similarities were a lot.

Hermione pointed her wand at him and said, "Accio Marauders' Map."

Percy blinked. Nothing happened. Hermione lowered her arm, disappointed and a little relieved.

"Wait. You thought Percy..." DJ trailed off, staring at him now. Everyone was looking at Percy.

"Stop that. Why are you guys...look we don't have the time, let's go and get your box."

He walked into the room and Harry and Nico followed him. After a second's beat, the others stepped in, looking around. "Accio Dome shield charms." Neville said, flicking his wand. There was no response and his shoulders slumped.

"May be someone else should try."

"Nev, you did it fine. It's probably under an anti-summoning spell. We'll just find it manually." Ron said. "Come on."

"Alright. Spread out and find a carton marked _Dome Shields_." Hermione said, her voice still stiff.

The group divided themselves into twos and walked in separate directions. Harry was about to follow Percy when Hermione grabbed his elbow and pulled him behind a shelf.

"He can walk through shields, can't he?" She hissed.

Harry groaned silently. "I guess so... Yeah. Yes. He can."

"What if he's the one who took the map?"

"The map flew out the window like someone summoned it, Hermione. Percy can't do _that_! And besides, you just checked, he doesn't have it."

"He doesn't have it on him, now. But... consider the possibility –"

"It's not him, Hermione." He said, cutting her off. "It can't be him. Why would he want the map? Only witches and wizards can use it. And you heard him, it's been months since he was at the castle."

Hermione leaned back. "If you believe him ..."

"I do. If he says it wasn't him, it wasn't him. Plus, he has no motive. What, did you expect him to steal the map and Dumbeldore's ring? What would he want with them?"

"I don't know."

They knelt beside a few boxes and began to search through. Hermione was clearly still steaming so Harry, in a bid to change the topic and get her a little calmer said, "Um... Hermione?"

"What?"

"I, say there was a friend...who wanted to, I mean, who liked someone. What should they do?"

Hermione pulled a box towards her and stopped, looking at him in confusion. "A friend?"

"You know... a friend."

"I know what a friend is, Harry. But what are you talking about?"

He cleared his throat, found a package of tiny crystal balls and pushed it aside. "I meant... hypothetically speaking, if I fancied someone... what should I do?"

There was a small frown on her face. Then she gawked at him. "Harry... are you trying to ask me out?"

He choked. "No! No, not you! I swear, it's someone else!"

"Oh, thank Merlin! I thought –"

"Not you, Hermione."

"Good, good. I have no feelings like that towards you."

"Me too, towards you, I mean."

"Good. That's sorted."

"Yeah." Harry exhaled, wondering if he was blushing as much as she was. Hermione shook her head and continued to rifle through the cartons.

"So, you do like someone?" She asked. There was no escaping it now. He nodded.

"And you've spoken to them before, right? They know you?"

"Everyone knows me, Hermione."

"What I meant was, do they know you as a friend, or at least a classmate? Is it a Hogwarts student?"

"Yeah. Yeah, she is."

Hermione smiled. "Do I know her?"

"You've probably seen her in the passing."

"Uhuh. Well, if you've talked to her before, you could, you know, just approach her and ask her out?"

Harry swallowed. "Ask her...out on a date?"

She nodded, unable to stop smiling now. "And make it clear that that's what you want. Sometimes, people will assume you just want to hang out, and trust me, you don't want that misunderstanding."

"Okay. So...how do I do that?"

"You walk up to her, say hi, smile, a nice smile not a creepy one, and just ask her."

"... you've never asked anyone out, have you?"

Hermione looked sympathetic. "Sorry, Harry. Of course, you can build up the nerve by coming up with topics of conversation that you're both familiar on."

That one was easy. Ginny liked Quidditch and food. Harry liked Quidditch and food. It was a no-brainer.

"Right. So that way, we'll have something to talk about on... the date..."

"Yes. And if you're the one asking, you need to have an idea of what to do. Like, where would you go? Hogsmeade is out of the question and nobody's allowed outside the castle... the irony."

Harry chuckled. "We could just stay on the grounds, may be."

"That's not a bad idea. You could take a walk around the lake, if she likes that. Or just... have a picnic."

"A picnic?"

Hermione raised her eyebrows. "Yes. You know, just enjoy the outdoors. It's good fun, casual enough for a first date, but making sure that it is a date."

Harry took in another deep breath. That sounded perfect. He could cook something for Ginny, using the Hogwarts kitchen. She liked chocolate, so may be... a mousse... he'd never tried that before, he might have to practice...

Hermione was beaming as she said, "Check them out too, those containers by the windows. It has to be a medium sized box. I'm sure."

* * *

Percy ended up with Ginny. Which was good because he didn't want to think about the fact that Tom was standing right behind them, glaring at him.

The trick with the door had been a bad idea. Percy knew that it would immediately put him on Hermione's radar, because she was quick with things like that. And Tom knew that Percy knew this. And Tom was furious.

The locket was hot as usual, but he found it easier to ignore it, focusing on Ginny's muttering about Sneakoscopes.

"They're not activated. You ever seen a Sneakoscope, Percy?"

"Yeah, I have. Harry has one."

"Neat. These ones look top of the line. When you switch them on, they'll light up and spin if there's anything untrustworthy happening. Wanna see?"

"Not now!" Percy closed the flaps of the box. He was sure the entire thing would make enough of a ruckus with Tom fuming so close.

Ginny huffed. "Fine. So, everything peachy as camp?"

"Yes. 'S all good."

"You look stressed, that's why I asked. Sort of pale too. Manhattan's not getting enough sun?"

Percy cringed. He knew he looked a little sickly, but he'd hoped that a week's stay at camp would remove all doubts. Apparently, it hadn't been enough.

"Just a bit... I mean, I am stressed, so..."

"Oh. Sorry. I guess you guys are busy over there. You sure you have the time for a meeting and all?"

"We need to have one. It's part of the whole thing. Did you get any more people on board?"

Ginny shrugged. "So far, we have ten. We'll have to find a way to include more without alarming anyone. I guess we're going for equal numbers on both sides."

"Something like that. But since some of us already know you, you could add extra. If it's a small meeting, ten's fine, but I really think there should be more."

The locket cooled down and Percy found it easier to breathe. He settled down, relaxing, finding that Tom had disappeared. May be he decided it was a waste of time to get angry. Percy hoped he wouldn't do anything. Tom didn't want to get caught, but he made no qualms of making people miserable.

"Hmm." Ginny said, uncovering a large carton that had small boxes that were long enough to hold knives.

"Ooh!" She cheered, opening one of them. "Wands!"

Percy watched in awe as she uncovered a slender wand made of redwood. It looked pretty and delicate. Ginny looked like she wanted to touch it, but kept it aside and looked through the others.

"They're all real, aren't they?" Percy asked.

"Yes. They must have cost a ton. I would have assumed that they were backups for the Order, but it's seriously first-rate."

"So you can have more than one wand? I thought you guys couldn't."

"Well, we're more attuned towards one wand. No problems in having more if you can afford them. Some wands don't work well for you. And if it's a bad match, your life would be miserable. Neville's got a new one in the summer, and it works really well, better than the one before. He's really great at Charms and Herbology."

Ginny looked through the rest with glee. Percy wondered what it was like having a wand. It would obviously be different to wielding a blade. He remembered DJ talking about wand magic versus Core magic. They had their own strengths and weaknesses. There was something clearly enigmatic about them. Percy could almost see the wood vibrate with energy.

There was movement to the side. He looked up, across Ginny and saw Tom standing there, in what looked like Hogwarts robes. That was weird. Where did he get those?

Tom's eyes were red and he was staring at Ginny. There was something gnawing at the back of Percy's mind. He was different. He looked... younger.

She gazed up, delight etched on her face. She saw Percy's expression, turned her head and looked right at Tom.

 _No_ , Percy panicked. She shouldn't see him, she wasn't supposed to –

Ginny gasped. She froze, kneeling in front of the box, gazing at Tom, her happiness disappearing into smoke. Percy's lungs worked overtime to draw in proper breath.

"No." She whispered. Her hands shook and she dropped the box she held. "You can't be real. You're gone!"

"What have you done, Ginny?" Tom hissed. "They're all gone."

"No..." She trembled, trying to back away. She nearly fell on top of Percy who was frozen stiff. What was happening? How did she recognize him?

"All of them dead. All because of you."

"Get away!" Ginny cried, scrambling for her wand at the same time, she was pushing both Percy and herself back against the wall.

There was a grating noise from the side as someone approached and Tom turned towards them. Suddenly, he changed forms. Percy yelped as he disappeared into a colour-filled mist changing shapes, hovering three feet above the ground before turning into a completely different person.

He recognized this man as well. Ajax stood there, in leather pants and a denim jacket, a wicked gleam in his brown-green eyes, gaze fixed on Harry who'd rushed in on hearing Ginny's voice. He had an expression of shock and horror, body petrified to the spot as Ajax walked towards him with a playful smile.

"Catch." Ajax said and tossed something gold and shining towards him.

Percy and Ginny watched in mute terror as Harry let out a scream, backing into a shelf to avoid whatever it was that Ajax had thrown.

" _Riddikulus!"_ Hermione shrieked from one end of the room and Ajax winced, changing back into the formless mist turning into an upturned cockroach.

DJ, Ron, Nico and Neville ran from the other side of the room, stopping at the sight of the bug. Before it could change forms again, Ginny raised her own wand and shouted, " _Reducto!"_

In hindsight, they probably shouldn't have sneaked into the safe house and then proceeded to destroy it. Well, Ginny didn't _destroy_ the entire building but she did put a hole in the attic floor and that was rather noticeable.

Ron and Neville fixed the floor and cleared the debris. DJ calmed Ginny. Hermione calmed Harry. Nico was talking to Percy, but the latter couldn't hear him. The noise of the explosion was still ringing in his ears. But worse yet, he remembered the diary, Tom's diary, remembered that Ginny was the one who had it when she was eleven.

And according to what he'd heard, Ginny had basically been possessed, petrifying people using a basilisk, including Hermione and DJ.

The thing that had looked like sixteen year old Tom and then Ajax had been a boggart.

"I must have opened the filing cabinet by mistake." Tom muttered flippantly. "How clumsy of me."

"We need to leave." Neville said, shaking slightly. The eight of them were still in the house, seated at the dining table. "They could be back any minute."

"Right." Hermione agreed. "Nico, can you get Percy –"

"I'm fine. It was just a shock. Sorry, I froze. Ginny –"

"Yeah, I'm alright." She shook her short strands away from her face and nodded towards Harry. "Are you –"

"I'm good. It just caught me off-guard."

DJ looked at him with interest. "I thought your boggart was a dementor."

"Boggarts change, DJ. Let's have a little more tact." Hermione chided.

"It's fine." Harry insisted. Percy thought he didn't look fine. Harry was pale and sweating, skin cold to touch. He took slow breaths to calm himself.

"What was the thing he threw at you?"

"I said it's fine!" Harry snapped. "Leave off, will you? We need to go!"

"That's why you resigned from the team. It's got something to do with the snitch." DJ continued, staring at him, undeterred.

Percy wondered if DJ had a death wish. Harry's fists were clenched so tight he could have punched right through the table.

"DJ." Ron said, quietly. "Let it go."

Percy watched him till he nodded and stayed silent. Ginny was still looking at Harry.

"Okay." Nico said. He blinked purposefully at Percy and they both rose. "Right. We found the box...es. So, now what?"

"Now, we need to find a venue to hold the meeting." Hermione said, taking over. "Somewhere safe enough to allow demigods and wizards to stay together for at least a few hours without outside intervention, safe from attack, both internal and external."

"That's a tall order." Ron sighed.

"I know. So first, we need to determine how many people exactly can we invite for this thing. Then we decide the place. We can't hold it in camp or in the castle –"

"Frost!" Nico chirped.

Neville smiled. "Isn't that your house?"

"Yeah, it's in Gretna Green. It's large, safe, far enough from both places."

DJ nodded. "That's not a bad idea, Nico. Frost already has its regular guarding system, we can add these enchantments, make it temporarily secure enough for anything!"

"Plus, we have a direct floo connection from the staff room to the house." Harry added.

"How will we get the demigods there, though?" Percy asked. "We don't have the floo."

"We can make one."

Percy stared at Harry. "Can you do that?"

Everyone looked at Hermione. She struggled with the idea. "We can look up the theory... I've never seen anyone cast the spell before. But if we find the rune for it, we can do it."

"So, we can literally travel between the camp and the mansion, anytime we want?" Nico asked, excited.

"The thing is, if we make it a single connection, we won't have to register it with the Ministry. So Frost will be the only outlet for the floo." Ron added. "But Harry has to be the one to do it since he's the only one allowed in camp."

"Oh right."

"We can find a way." Ginny nodded. "So we've got a place."

"We've got a place!"

Percy laughed at their little celebration. He felt safer, knowing that Frost was alright. He wasn't too sure about the floo, though. It felt risky, but he could always get Harry to shut it down if there was a problem with it.

He and Nico left for their apartment in NYC. Sally was still out, and Percy realised that it was barely ten in the morning.

"Hey!" Nico looked up at the clock. "We can go to school today."

"I guess so... do you want to go?"

"Yeah!"

"Fine."

* * *

 _Hogwarts – 8:00 p.m._

Harry thought of a lot of things. The boxes of enchantments Hermione had stowed away under her bed, the Quidditch practice he'd be missing tomorrow that Ron and Ginny would go for, the chocolate riddled with love potion gifted from Romilda, that stupid boggart with its new form of Ajax, DJ with his sharp query of the snitch, the new venue for the meeting, his newly affirmed bisexuality, Umbridge and that stupid article, Skeeter and her stupid article, Ginny with her freckles and muscles and her hair brushing against her eyelashes and cheek, and the Order meeting that had discussed about the missing ring.

As far as Harry knew, Dumbledore didn't wear rings. Not even his wedding ring which he'd taken off a few decades ago. So what ring was that? It had to be something important.

He sat in the library because he needed to get away from Ron. He sat in the Divination section because he needed to get away from Hermione.

He should be tackling one of the issues that circumnavigated his life (like getting rid of Romilda's chocolate) but instead, he sat alone in the library, staring at someone like his life depended on it.

And it was getting creepy. He could not stop looking at her. He'd been there was forty minutes, pretending to brush through _Standard Floo Units_ , when all he could think of was the random clutter that invaded his life and the fact that Ginny was sitting just twenty feet from him.

Harry watched her place her chin on her palm, leaning enough to let her short locks brush her cheek. She grinned as Colin explained something from the books placed in front of them. The library was empty now that it was eight and most had migrated for dinner. The stars twinkled in the cold sky, the books surrounding him were old and warm and his chest was filled with something that made him feel like his diaphragm was pushing upwards far too much making him breathless and light headed.

Every time Harry tried to look away, he felt like he lost precious seconds during which he could have kept looking at her. It was a travesty.

He thought back to what Ron had said. Ginny did fancy him once, but it wasn't very telling now. He didn't know if she still liked him or had moved on. What if she wasn't interested anymore?

Harry wouldn't find out anything by hiding behind a book shelf, four rows down. He needed to go up to her and ask, preferably without deviating to safer topics of food or Quidditch. Well, at least they had a few common grounds so it may not be too awkward.

He closed the book, deciding to check it out, stood up straight and inhaled, filling his lungs with courage, praying. Come on, he was Harry bloody Potter, this should be easy. It wasn't like he was going into battle.

It might have been. Harry figured if someone popped up and offered to duel with him instead, he'd oblige.

Now or never.

Harry marched five steps towards them and then turned around and hid behind the last book shelf.

His lungs were empty.

Damn, damn, damn.

Just do it!

Harry shut his eyes, stepped into the aisle and walked into the study space. He nearly collided with the bench. He blinked at the startled pair.

"Harry! Why were you walking with your eyes closed?" Ginny asked, staring apprehensively.

"No reason. I mean… aren't you heading for dinner?"

"Is it that late?" Colin looked at his watch and winced. "Wow, I _am_ hungry."

"Right then, let's pack this up. Thanks, Harry –"

"Actually, I wanted to ask you something." Harry said. Ginny froze for a moment before nodding slowly.

"Ok."

"Alone, if you don't mind." He turned his head towards Colin, not taking his eyes off of her.

Colin nodded slowly, watching the two of them. "Alright. I'll see you in the Hall, Gin."

He packed his bag and left hurriedly as though he somehow knew what Harry wanted to do. Ginny seemed nervous so Harry tried to smile.

"It's just a thing, Ginny. I suppose… well, you said you like chocolate."

"I did say that, yes."

"Yeah, great! So I was wondering… if you were up for it… that we could… with me…and you…together… have a picnic."

The last of the world's air was used up and Harry held his breath, staring at Ginny who'd gone wide eyed and motionless. She looked up at him as though she'd never expected him to say such a thing.

Had it been bad? Did she not like the idea?

"I meant a picnic…as in a date!" Harry blurted. "Not as friends… not that I don't like being friends, that's great, but I wanted to ask you… out, I want… no, I am asking you out, I just asked you out and … you haven't responded yet… alright, I'll just leave –"

"No!" Ginny cried. "Um… just wait here a minute, I'll be right back!"

She dropped her books and sprinted away, heading for the doors. Harry stared after her, wondering if he'd finally gone and scared her off.

* * *

Ginny exited the library and rushed down the corridor, hoping Colin had really left for the Great Hall and not gone back to the dorms. To her luck, she took a turn and caught him in a slug paced walk, dragging his feet, head bowed low in defeat.

"Colin! Wait a sec!" She called and he turned around, surprised.

"Ginny? Where's your bag? Where's Harry?"

"In the library –"

"Why'd you leave them there? I thought you might have wanted to walk with him –"

"No, listen, Colin. He asked me out." She whispered frantically, clutching his arm.

"I guessed that's what he came for." Colin replied. "That doesn't explain why –"

"What do you think I should say?!"

He gaped. "What d'you mean… you didn't say 'yes'?"

"No, I wanted to check with you, if you were alright with it."

"Ginny! He asked you not me! And since when do you ask for advice?"

"Several times, I take tutoring lessons from you, DJ, Luna and Daphne. I owl Charlie and Bill for notes. I ask Sprout for help loads of times." She deadpanned.

Colin sighed. "I meant, you don't need to ask me about this. You like him! Go on!"

"I can't just… you like him too Colin."

"Of course I do, but that doesn't have to change your reply."

Ginny shook her head. "It's… different. I like him… I suppose…"

"You suppose?" Colin asked, bewildered. "Last year you said you either wanted to snog or decapitate him."

"That was last year. A lot's changed. I… it feels like I'd make you miserable if I went out with him." She admitted.

Colin scoffed. "I'd be miserable either way, Gin. I wouldn't hate you for it. You're my best mate and the bloke the both of us fancy just asked you out! Are you calling me a poor friend?"

"You're a good friend." Ginny said, firm. "That's why I wanted to check with you."

"You don't need to. Trust me. You like him, he likes you, clearly. Go on, have fun."

"But, it feels like a terri –"

"Jeez, look at you all afraid of hurting feelings!" Colin jested but it only made Ginny more reluctant. She knew he would be upset no matter what he said. She knew how he'd always had stars in his eyes every time Harry glanced his way. She and Colin had spent hours just talking about him in secret and some of the things they'd whispered were not meant for Luna, who wouldn't have understood the insinuations, or for DJ, who would have been horrified from their descriptions.

Thinking back on it, Ginny couldn't believe she'd been such fangirl once upon a time.

She knew that if she agreed to go on a picnic with Harry, she'd worry about hurting Colin the entire time. That would ruin the whole atmosphere and Harry definitely wanted to show her his chocolate mousse that he'd promised he would make for her one day.

Ginny blushed, wondering what had made Harry look at her now. Why did he suddenly like her of all people? She wasn't girly enough as some idiots liked to point out. But that only meant that he had a better character than most. And that should make her feel optimistic and jittery but she kept dwelling on the possible regrets.

"Ginny, come on." Colin chided her with a gentle smile. "If it was me he'd asked, you would have wanted me to go, wouldn't you?"

"Yeah…"

"So…? Go and tell him! Harry's waiting."

She swore. She'd left him in the library without an explanation. With a last look at Colin, she dashed back, pushing at her legs to go faster. Her decision came to resolution and Ginny hoped it was the right one.

Harry was sitting at the desk, looking at the title of one of her textbooks. He looked up as she approached him and stood, gazing at her anxiously. He was nervous, she realized. Ginny hated herself for what she was about to do, but it was the most honest answer she had and she knew he valued the truth more than anything.

"Harry… thanks for asking, but I… don't think I should. What I mean is that… it doesn't seem like the thing for me… it's lovely thought… I mean, a picnic! It sounds great… But, no. Sorry."

She hoped she didn't stammer too much. In her mission to relax her consciousness about Colin, she raised the guilt by telling Harry 'no'.

His jaw went slack and she winced. Her ears went hot with remorse when she realized he hadn't thought of the possibility of this answer.

"I'm really sorry, Harry. But my answer is no and … er…sorry."

He blinked and swallowed before nodding stiffly. "That's alright. I'll see you tomorrow."

Before she could say anything else, he marched away, heading for the exit, shoulders tense and bag tightly clutched in his fists. Ginny hoped her decision wasn't a mistake.

* * *

 **You didn't expect that, did you? Stay tuned everyone.**

 **The thing with Rachel's visions may seem random, but they're meant to be unexplainable. You as well as the characters will find out soon enough.**

 **Q: What does a Boggart look like when it confronts no one?**

 **Cabba.**


	30. Trouble's Your Best Friend

**A: A boggart is said to take form of a dark shapeless mist when it is alone. And yeah, Moody can see it thanks to his magical eye. You got it right!**

 **ShadeofDeath746, Catie Cat, Sherlock Harry Winchester, you guys are keeping me going, you know. I mean, I would still write this without reviewers but encouragement goes a long way and thanks so much. Your comments make my day!**

 **The Ginny-Harry debacle is gonna get resolved different to what you expect. I'm excited for you to read that! And Colin's going to find someone, never fret!**

 **Listening to – The Last of Her Kind by Peter Gundry**

* * *

 _Thursday, Oct. 18  
Hogwarts – 12:30 p.m._

Sirius closed his eyes to physically stop thinking about the strain. It didn't help. Alice's words still rang out clear in his head.

"She couldn't travel between continents. He can. That has some of us wondering what else he can do."

"It's been proven time and again that those with similar and even exact inherited Cores wield them in different forms. There were other abilities Lily had that Harry cannot do." Frank added.

"Well, sure. But I'm just saying let's ask him –"

"Harry's not stupid!" Sirius exclaimed. "He's not going to do anything that would compromise his safety."

Snape scoffed. Sirius's blood boiled when the sallow faced man turned towards him. "If you would have me believe that Potter contemplates on the consequences –"

"You have no say in, Snape. You've made your position very clear when the Occlumency lessons failed! He was worse off than before! The only thing that's been helping him is his therapy sessions!"

Before Snape could retaliate, Arthur struck the desk with both hands, making enough noise to interrupt them. It startled everyone because he wasn't the kind of man to do something physically imposing.

"First, Sirius, close the door."

Sirius looked around and found that the door to the dungeon was slightly ajar. He flicked his wand it shut. Besides, it wasn't like anyone was there, listening.

"Now listen all of you. Going around to blame that boy is not going to help. If we need answers, we can sit him down and have a regulated conversation. If Harry knows more than he lets on, then there's a reason why he would keep it from us. May be he's told someone else." Arthur reasoned.

Molly sighed in worry. "What if it has something to do with that camp? He wouldn't tell us about them, anymore than what we already know."

"Yes, which is why, I think it's not too pressing an issue to consider."

Sirius nearly exhaled in relief. Dumbledore frowned in deliberation. "Can you be sure about this, Arthur? If Harry does know something about the wards –"

"We will definitely question him about anything that has to do with Hogwarts. But remember, Harry's just fifteen. He's a strong willed boy with stead fast loyalty to all his friends. And the demigods at that camp are his friends. You won't get a word out of him if you start an interrogation about them. Teenagers are more stubborn than you would believe, Albus."

Dumbledore seemed to accept the consensus on that. "I believe that more than you know. I do run a school, after all."

"Basically, we can't be passive aggressive. Just ask straight and direct questions, and hope for the best, huh?" Tonks asked. "I know he isn't that good a liar, and whatnot, but if he doesn't want to tell us –"

"He knows the castle's security is important." Sirius replied, patiently. "He will help if we're straight forward. But I really don't think he knows all too much about this."

The Order fell silent as though they knew the subject was about to change. Kingsley folded his arms and began in a low voice. "It's not what he knows, Sirius… the Rome incident –"

"We're not bringing that up with him!" Sirius retorted.

"We may have to." Dumbledore was even more somber than when the hurriedly set up gathering began. "The four men caught in the UK Embassy were murdered early this morning."

In the following pause, Sirius's senses focused on the potions kept on hiatus on the shelves in the corner of the classroom. The smell of vanilla was strong. It hadn't been that noticeable before.

Sirius thought back to the grand hall of the embassy where the duel had gone down. Along with Remus and him, there was a team of Aurors and Order members, battling with the kidnappers between which Harry had been nearly caught in the crossfire. Sirius remembered the bolt of fear which had struck him, alighting every nerve with its painful sting. Harry had been in danger and he'd arrived too late.

Quite literally. If what Healer Sierra Calles had said was the truth (and she swore up and down that she'd never lie about such a thing, however impossible), then Harry's body had shut down, as in, he'd died.

And it wasn't even the medical death where a patient could flat line for a couple of minutes at the most, during a serious operation. Calles had explicitly stated that Harry had been dead for nearly an hour before his body kick started and began to heal from within.

Remus confirmed her conclusion by recalling that he hadn't been able to hear a heartbeat when they'd been looking through the fallen building.

Sirius saw the explosion in his mind's eye and quickly brought himself back to the present. They had caught three wizards and a muggle with a crossbow. The bow had been armed with small arrow bolts with heads made of bronze of all things. It hadn't been the celestial kind that the demigods used, so Sirius was at a loss about that. The back to the point, they had imprisoned the four men with kidnapping and assault, and a host of other infractions. As far as Sirius knew, none of them had revealed anything and the latest verdict assigned by the Head of the Auror department was to use Veritaserum.

And they were all dead now.

"Let me guess." Snape said, in a tight voice. "The protection measures around the Ministry were unaltered, as thought someone simply walked into the building, killed them and walked out, nothing stopping them from doing so."

He glared at Sirius as though it was his fault. Sirius aimed daggers at Snape, ready to retaliate but Kingsley spoke.

"It seems like it. The deaths occurred at two in the morning, the exact time of the guard switch. But neither of the leaving or arriving teams registered any intruder. The problem is that even if the murderer had been invisible, the outer wards should have put up barriers in the Atrium. It's not possible to disable the entire system without anyone knowing. We have alarm measures for that. If anything triggers the alarm, the entire Ministry and St. Mungo's, get notified."

Frank blinked. "The hospital?"

"It's a more recent feature. Any public facility under the category of VI-741 is assigned the Alarm Bell feature, marked by the Eihwaz rune. During an emergency, anyone belonging in the facility can activate it warn the hospital and the Ministry that immediate assistance is required. We have it in nearly all the rooms in the castle." Kingsley looked towards Dumbledore who said, "If Harry can tell us that he was in the castle during the attack –"

"Why the bloody hell do you think Harry would know about this?!" Sirius hissed. He was getting sick of the headmaster's platitude. It was as though nothing really surprised him.

"I did not mean to insinuate that, Sirius."

"Like hell you didn't! I know half the people in this room have doubts about him. And let me guess, it's because of the demigods, am I right?"

The silence answered his question. Sirius made a sound of disgust. "You've all met Percy and Nico! They're good kids, they went all the way to Rome to find Harry! And Annabeth helped, you do remember her taking down a manticore!?"

Tonks winced at that. "Yeah…"

"Don't put your blame on them, especially if you don't know them. They did everything they could save him, Percy faced Ajax, Nico saved DJ –"

"Speaking of Ajax Furor." Snape interrupted, unperturbed by Sirius's ire. "Jackson said she'd killed him. Using a pistol."

"A gun, yeah."

"Potter later said he was alive. Are we to believe he magically arose from the dead? Do demigods have that ability?"

His voice took a trip to the Caribbean. Sirius felt a void in his throat as his lack of an answer manifested in the room. He'd not forgotten about Ajax. Sally had sworn she'd shot him in the head, something no mortal could survive. Percy and Rachel witnessed it, so there had been no doubts. And yet, Harry admitted that it was Ajax who had blown up the building in order to get away.

Harry, who shivered when he spoke about the man, who had the look of terror when he explained about a grenade, the size of a snitch, but heavier. Harry who was still suffering from the Rome incident that he'd resigned from the Quidditch team just to get away from the snitch.

Harry who was another example of someone who'd died and come back at the end of the third Triwizard task. Like a public secret that no one spoke about.

Was it possible? Were such things actually real? Could people just walk into buildings despite the best wards of the era? Could people come back from the dead?

Sirius was afraid that the answer was already a solid yes.

"Maybe she'd just knocked him out." Tonks piped up. "I mean, bullets are just tiny bits of lead, yeah? How much damage can they really do?"

Snape sneered. "I was under the assumption that aurors regularly update their knowledge on muggle weapons."

"Well, I know they go all fast, but –"

"If Sally says he was dead, he was definitely dead." Sirius sighed. He stood straight and looked into Dumbledore's eyes. "And if we're asking Harry, it will be on his terms. He has enough trauma about this. We're not ganging up on him, it will be just a few of us."

He folded his arms and waited for their response. Tonks nodded and held up her hands. "Sorry, Sirius. I didn't mean to sound callous."

"It's fine."

"I will go along with this, Sirius." Dumbledore admitted. "I apologize as well. It has been a trying week."

The group seemed to breathe easier with this. Molly and Arthur leaned against each other and Sirius could feel their eyes on him. He wanted to say something, but felt it wasn't the moment. Kingsley cleared his throat again and said, "Alice…?"

"Ah, yes. I have my trunk ready. Tomorrow is a good day to start classes, Albus."

"Splendid. And your disguise?"

Alice took out a small pair of earrings from her pocket. "They each hold necessary charms to keep the glamour up for the next few months. If one fails, the other will work overtime while I fix it. Augusta figured it would be better than a locket. She did the spell herself."

"That's one problem solved. And be careful of Umbridge, she's looking into all the teachers and she will go after you, one way or another." Arthur reminded her. Sirius dropped his head with a groan. Every time something felt solved, another problem reared up its ugly toad faced head.

"May be the vigilante could take her out." He muttered.

Alice and Snape snorted and then looked at each other in surprise.

"Back to that… my opinion on it differs from the Ministry's." Kingsley said. They watched him as he sighed, closed his head and muttered a curse. Sirius raised his eyebrows in surprise. King was never the type to curse out loud. He managed to maintain civil accords with everyone, not from a pedestal like Dumbledore, but with a humble and rational standpoint.

"Crouch's murderer healed the corpse to remove the exact method of how he was really killed. It was done in a hurry, so forensic analysis found evidence of broken blood vessels and hypodermis consistent with a stabbing. There were fragments of bone in the tissue as well."

Molly's eyes were so wide she almost couldn't speak. "But, healing…"

Sirius made fists out of his hands. "Harry can't heal the dead, Molly. Will you all please stop –"

"Not Harry! I know of only one other person who could heal anyone, dead or alive." She turned to a stunned Arthur. Frank frowned and placed his hands on one of the desks in front of him.

"But Voldemort is still in Germany, Molly. We have the reports –"

"Do you know anyone else with that Core? It would be in the news if there was a witch or wizard who was born with natural healing abilities. Tom Riddle was the last known Born Healer. It is an extremely rare type –"

"Actually, Potter can heal dead things." Snape interrupted. "He's rejuvenated plenty of plants in the greenhouses. Sprout cannot stop singing praises of him and Longbottom."

"Neville, " Alice stressed the name, shooting him a look, "…has told us that Harry's healing power is a by-product of his Core which is a Nature Link. He cannot heal dead plants, just the ones that have gone brown from dehydration. Lily was the same."

"May be he's better at it than his mother?"

"I don't like that tone, Severus."

"Harry can't heal himself." Sirius said, silencing them. "I do believe that is the first aspect of a born healer – to be able to heal themselves. And he tires if he tries to heal too much of others. It hurts him when he does too much of it which, again, is _not_ a trait of born healers. Because he isn't one!"

Kingsley stepped forwards. "Harry wasn't the one to do this, Sirius. We recognize that. But I'd like to speak to him all the same. We know no one else who has that ability and even if it is only his derivative, it will educate us on something."

Sirius shrugged, turning away.

"We will question him on Saturday, before you leave for Mantis." Dumbledore decided. His shoulders had risen slightly. "As for the vigilante's magic… how long until the Prophet finds out?"

"Latest by Monday. No guarantees."

"Then we have to move fast. Hagrid has sent a missive. Olympe and he have parted a few days ago. She will reach France within the week but Hagrid will have to take a longer route. If I ask him to go to Czech to find out more about the Death Eaters' movements, he would undertake it…"

The statement was partially a question. Sirius realized that Dumbledore was waiting to see what the Order's feedback was.

"It's not safe for him to go alone, Albus." Frank warned him.

Alice nodded, glaring. "Remus is already by himself. With all the danger he is in, I don't want another soul being put in harm's way just because that's where the chess pieces are supposed to be. If he were with Maxime, I might have grudgingly agreed, but no. Absolutely not. You tell him to come home, now!"

"He's very recognizable. An obscuring hex can only do so much. It's not worth the risk if he could be identified so easily." Arthur concurred. Molly agreed as well. "He needs some safety and stability before you can dump another mission on him."

"I only ask because he may be of support to Remus –"

"He can't keep renewing the disguise." Sirius repeated Arthur. "It would only compromise Remus and himself."

Kingsley nodded. Dumbledore relented. "Clear. He will reach by the first week of December. And that is only if he keeps his current pace of travel."

Sirius caught Snape disinterest and restrained himself from scowling. He thought about Harry's reaction to being question and knew that would be a difficult day. It was tough enough to encourage him to attend therapy. The only thing that made Harry agree to meeting Mantis on a regular basis was because he go to visit Rachel after that. Sirius had to admit it was good for the boys to see her, but the interrogation was not bound to go as smoothly as he hoped.

He hadn't told Dumbledore about Rachel. The only people who knew were Remus, Sally and the Cullens. The rest of the Order believed that Rosalie Potter had died in that house along with her parents.

A cold shiver ran down his spine. Rachel was a squib, so she couldn't have anything to do with the killings or really, with magic at all. But there were times when Sirius would look at her and expected to see her eyes glaze over as she went into a trance. Her eyes were somehow even more like Lily's than Harry's. It was too green, almost unnaturally so. Harry had hazel and gold flecks which were rather obvious if you'd spent days in the hospital, holding his hand and talking about enough random and silly things to send him off to sleep. The first week after Rome had been the worst.

Sirius imagined what would happen if they found out about her. Alice and Frank would be ecstatic, of course. Molly and Arthur would be shocked but pleased. Snape probably wouldn't care. Tonks would be excited and Kingsley would definitely be interested. Albus would be too stunned though. Sirius was half worried if the old man would kick the bucket with all the stress.

Secrets were ticking time bombs. They could not be hidden forever and the longer and more pressure there was to cover it up, the more likely it was for them to explode. Nobody would be able to ignore her survival if the truth were out. It was one thing for Harry to be in the spotlight – he was barely handling it – Sirius didn't want Rachel to be caught up in this mess either. If everyone found out, he'd have to inform her parents, and work to hide all three of them which wouldn't be easy seeing as how important and popular they were in the muggle world.

But for now, no one could know. Sirius thought of James and Lily and felt the age old crack in his heart bleed again.

* * *

 _Friday, Oct. 19  
Goode High School, 10:00 a.m._

"I need to tell you something." Rachel whispered. Percy nearly jumped from his seat. They were in US History, taking a break as the teacher arranged the projector to show something. The class was getting noisy, and nobody noticed the two of them seated by the windows. She was behind him, leaning in to look over his shoulder.

"Holy Olympus, Rachel! Please don't ever do that!" He gasped. He clutched Riptide tight in his hand. Another second and the sword might have been swung at her.

"Sorry." Rachel winced. Percy exhaled as he turned around and waited.

"It's just…" She muttered. "I have to tell you something."

"Alright?"

"It's really important." She looked nervous and Percy wondered what could bother her so much that could rival anything he and camp was facing. No, that wasn't fair to her. Though, it wasn't fair to him either.

They'd begun the preparations. On Sunday, Harry was supposed to arrive and set up the floo connection between camp and Frost. Chiron had surprisingly not been as bothered by it as they'd expected. Annabeth had a point that if camp was well and truly attacked, the campers who couldn't fight could take refuge in the mansion. It was a safety outlet for them and since everyone in the house knew of their existence, it was better than any other alternative.

Percy's idea had been to get together enough campers and students from Hogwarts to have a 'preliminary meeting'. If they could form basic trust, that might make all the difference. Many others had wanted a fully fledged gathering but that was too risky. A small meeting would ensure that people could cooperate faster and in case anyone from the Order came back, they could hide in one of the rooms till the adults left.

The problem was too many people had opted to go for it. Ever since the Iris Message with Harry and the others, camp had started to get excited about the prospect of meeting witches and wizards. Percy knew that it was because most of them liked Harry. It put up a good impression of the rest of the students. At least, that was a good thing. They were eager to meet up.

The problem was getting enough students to meet them.

"Um, sorry Rachel, I'm sort of… busy. Can it wait till later?" He said. The teacher, Ms. Chris (that was fun to say) had rapped her knuckles on the table to get everyone's attention. She turned off the lights and the wall in front of them was illuminated.

Percy shot an apologetic look and turned to face the screen. Tom leaned against the windows, all casual. He had a smirk on his face and it irked Percy.

 _What?_ Percy thought.

"Oh, nothing. But it's getting quite obvious, you know. About Rachel."

 _What about Rachel?_

Tom batted his eyelashes. It made him look … not as silly as Percy would have liked. Tom never looked bad. Evil and conniving but never with a hair out of place. It reminded him of Luke with his perfect looks and how he'd charmed everyone at camp, trying to convince them that what he'd done was right…

Percy briefly thought of Annabeth defending him and immediately focused on the movie being played in front of him.

"She likes you." Tom said.

 _Well yeah, Annabeth likes me. I like her, we're dating._

Tom started to laugh, shaking his head and disappearing from sight. Percy frowned wondering what was so funny. The movie was not a movie, but a documentary on Southern Colonies. He stared at it, long enough to be engrossed in it that he was able to push back most of his worries. Not all, but most. That was something.

The hour passed and Ms. Chris got up when the show was over. The lights were turned on and Percy saw that half the class were snoozing. She clapped her hands and roused them.

"Clearly your enthusiasm is boundless." She said dryly. "I'd like one of you to do a presentation on this next week. Anyone wants to volunteer?"

Everyone immediately started to slump in their seats, looking away from her. Percy sat stiffly, staring at the screen behind Ms. Chris. Her name really was fun to say.

"Come on, people. Let's show some incentive here. It'll make the chapter more interesting, I promise you. Ah, thank you, Rachel."

Percy turned around and saw Rachel had put her hand up. "Um, Ms. Chris? I was thinking of connecting it to Harper Lee's 'To Kill a Mocking Bird'."

The teacher looked pleased. "Not bad. But remember, the book is fictional. I don't want you to summarize it."

"I could take the themes and apply it to the chapter." Rachel suggested. "Can I have a partner for this?"

"Sure. If someone would like to –"

"I choose Percy." Rachel announced and Percy blanched.

"I didn't volunteer!" Percy complained, sitting up.

"That's not a problem. I'd like more of your cooperation in class, Mr. Jackson." Ms Chris seemed delighted. Percy usually never spoke up in class. School wasn't his thing. Even with Goode's dyslexia program, he just wasn't interested.

"Cool." Rachel said and Percy knew she had a Cheshire grin. The bell rang and everyone left, in fear of being volunteered for another presentation. Percy packed up his bag and stood as Rachel grabbed his elbow and yanked him outside.

He grumbled. "Alright, alright. Thanks a lot, Dare."

"You've been avoiding me." She said as they walked down the hall towards their lockers.

"I've been busy, Rachel. I lead a double life."

"Well, Hannah Montana. I needed to tell you something. You can't keep blowing me off."

She folded her arms as he stopped walking and frowned.

"Rachel, I'm serious. I don't have the time for any project."

"Too bad, you're stuck with me."

Percy glared at her. "I'm not joking. We have major problems in the Greek world, if you didn't know."

"Ahh yes, Greece is relying only on their tourism industry now."

"It's not funny, Rachel!"

Her nostrils flared and Percy was struck with how much she resembled Harry. It was unnerving. Percy felt his own ire rise against her. What did she have to face in her safe, mortal, rich world filled with privileges that went unnoticed by her?

"I do not have the time or patience for this." Percy said through gritted teeth. "Get another partner or go solo, I don't care."

"You should!" Her voice rose. Some of the teens in the corridor turned to look at them. Percy ignored them and walked towards his locker, opening it with a bang.

"There's something important –"

"Did your hair stylist quit on you?" Percy interrupted her, dumping his books. "It looks like an afro."

"Shut up, jerk. I'm trying to say something."

"I'm trying to ignore you. We don't all get what we want."

He pulled out his sweats and slammed the cover. Gym was the only hour when he could just do his own thing and not get too bothered. People left him alone when they saw that he could out-race, out-hop and out-anything-else them.

Rachel looked betrayed. Good. It felt good to cut her. Percy felt like she needed a dose of reality in her high class life. Without another glance, he left her, wondering if it really was Tom chuckling in his head or himself.

He had a good bout of volleyball. His team won of course. Percy wasn't the best at the game, but he never let the ball touch the ground, lunging everywhere to get at it. His smashes were a hit with the team, so to speak. It helped him vent and as the bell rang, he was sweaty, still filled with an adrenaline rush that wasn't as good as when he fought against a monster.

May be that's what he needed. A good fight. It was okay sparring with the campers. Annabeth and Clarisse were the only ones who could beat him now. Even though Nico, Chris, Will, Katie and Malcolm were in a high tier league at fighting, Percy found it getting easier to win against them. He was sure Thalia and some of the other hunters could best him as well, but they haven't sparred in a long while.

Percy stood there in the empty gym as the others filed out to hit the showers. That's why he was antsy. Weeks ago when he was with the Death Eaters in freezing Germany, he was out of his league. And out of his mind.

He needed something familiar and dangerous. Something he was in line with. He needed an Ancient Greek monster.

Percy felt like smiling. A tiny voice in the back of his mind was yelling that he was stupid. But that voice sounded like Rachel and Harry's combined. It was irritating. Percy shook his head and left to get his bag. He needed a safe place.

An hour later, he was walking down an old route. He was miles away from the school. Percy looked at the dead buildings and empty alleys. There were places in the bustling city of Manhattan that were lifeless. Percy wouldn't have believed it if he hadn't seen it first-hand.

He turned a corner and found the place he'd been looking for. A liquor store that sold cheap booze to anyone with cash. Percy remembered walking into the place several times when he was younger to get six packs for Gabe. Right now, he felt the churning emotions of suffocation and disgust. He thought of the stench of his step dad... late-ex-step dad. There was nothing more horrifying that Gabe. If there was a true monster, it was nothing from mythology, it was right here in real life in human form.

Percy watched as a few loiters lingered outside the shop. The owner was yelling at someone. Everyone there looked older than eighteen. They looked like low lives, like Gabe, spending somebody's hard earned money on useless drinks, getting hammered. They were a menace. Percy imagined each one of them going to their homes, threatening their families every day.

His plan had been to lure a monster to the shop. Nobody would really bother about such a place. It smelled of dirt, sweat, alcohol and a host of other things he didn't want to think about.

These people weren't even worth it. Percy stared at one man in disgust. He was already drunk, yelling about somebody's car. It was barely noon.

Nobody would miss them. Nobody would care. People would be happy if something unfortunate happened to them.

Not feeling even an ounce of guilt, Percy reached both hands into his pockets and took Riptide from one and his phone from the other. He leaned against the wall exhaled heavily and switched on his cell, dialling his mom.

After two rings she picked up.

" _Percy! Are you alright? What's wrong?!"_

"Don't worry, mom. I'm fine. What're you up to?"

" _I – I'm going on my break. Percy, where are you?"_

"Don't worry, I'm at home. I'm safe."

" _It's just... the phone's for emergencies, sweetie_."

"Lo siento, mama." Percy switched, trying to appease her. "I just came home for lunch. I didn't want to stay for the cafeteria food. It's the worst on Fridays." (I'm sorry)

He heard her sigh. From ten yards away, he also heard a rustling sound from a trash can on the other end of the road.

" _Are you skipping school for the rest of the day, then_?" Sally was saying. Percy placed the tip of his little finger on Riptide's clicker. The sound had come from beneath the old newspapers spread around the can.

"No." Percy replied, not really listening to her. He was sure there was something prowling under the papers. "I have to go, mom. I just wanted to say hi."

" _Pepe, listen_ –"

"Mom, I'm not bunking."

" _That's good. I just wanted to say to stay safe and not do anything..."_ She hesitated.

"Anything stupid?"

" _I know you're not stupid. Just... don't be rash, Pepe. Te amo_." (love you)

"Te amo, mama. Hasta pronto!" (see you soon)

Percy cut the call and slipped the cell back into his pocket. He advanced towards the papers. The hissing sound went low and Percy saw a tiny stick poking out from between two crumpled pieces of paper. The brown stick or twig wiggled like a stiff worm. Percy stopped four feet from it, wondering if it was a ploy.

It was. He moved to the left and something jumped out from the papers, aiming for his face.

It was a snake, the length of his entire body. Percy's adrenaline was now boosted by full blown anger. Of all the things in the world, it had to be a rotten snake.

It didn't seem like an ordinary reptile. The thing twisted its body in mid air, far too boneless, looking even more disturbing. Percy clicked Riptide and brought out Oneiroi, his dagger. Before the snake's sharp fangs was even bared at him, Percy crossed both blades in front of him, cutting the snake into two pieces like a pair of uneven scissors.

Sulphur hit his shirt and the smell rose to his senses. He grimaced.

The trash can shift towards the wall. From behind it, emerged one, two... four... six... a dozen snakes. They all had tiny brown twigs sticking up from the sides of their heads. Their bodies were like sand and grass, scales and muscles moving so seamlessly that no regular snake could move like that. If Percy hated snakes before, it was nothing compared to how he felt about them now.

Well, he'd gone and asked for this. Percy started walking backwards letting the snake demons follow him. They slithered in alarming movements, darting a few feet at a time. Percy smiled, as one of the men shouted a curse at whatever they were seeing.

"εὕρηκα." He murmured, turning around and letting the snakes attack the door of the liquor store. (eureka)

* * *

 _Saturday, Oct. 20  
Hogwarts, 9:00 a.m._

Harry held the vial carefully. His memory of visiting the Oracle had been extracted diligently by Luna who'd not caused a flicker of pain to his mind. Harry was frankly amazed. He didn't think it was possible for an underage witch to do that.

"Your dad's fine with you removing your memories, then?" He asked her. The two had exited the Come and Go room, heading back to the Great Hall. They'd written down the three prophecies and Harry was supposed to go to camp later to deliver them. His own prophecy may mean nothing to the demigods but the last one would definitely be of interest.

"It's tricky, yes. But if you don't underestimate the potential danger, then you can do it too, Harry." She recited, skipping along with his steps.

"I don't suppose you'd teach me?"

"You could suppose it."

"Really?"

"Hmm. In return for something, though."

He blinked at her. Luna giggled. "Don't worry, Harry! I just… I wonder if you know what DJ might like for Christmas? Daddy couldn't send the Kaleidoscope that I'd wanted to gift him, so I have nothing to give for Halloween."

"Oh. Well. He likes clothes."

"He's going to give all of us clothes. I think he's already pre-ordered most of our Christmas presents."

"Of course he did." Harry grinned, exasperated. "What's your budget?"

"Twenty galleons."

"Wow. Okay then. Try trainers. I know he's busy with the gloves this year."

"Good idea."

She smiled to herself and Harry wondered if anyone would ever spend twenty whole galleons on shoes. If Luna did, then DJ might just have an admirer.

That made him a little sour for a moment. He still heard Ginny's rejection swim to the forefront of his thoughts. He didn't think she'd say no. Hadn't she liked him? What had happened over the months? Did he do something? Did she like someone else?

There was a congealing mass of disappointment pulling on his lungs and it made him feel too low the more he thought about it. With supreme effort, he looked down at the vial in his hand and stuffed it into his robe pocket.

Before they could enter the Great Hall, Lee Jordan walked out. His eyes lit up.

"Harry! Hey, Dumbledore's waiting for you in his office."

"Now?" He stopped in surprise. They hadn't yet scheduled another Voldemort session. Besides at ten Sirius would be picking him and DJ up to go to London.

"Yeah. You can go after breakfast, he said. Hey Loony."

"Hey. Leela."

"Um, it's Lee."

"Oh, sorry."

"Alright." Harry looked at her. "Thanks, Luna. See you later."

"Bye, have fun."

"Sure…" He walked into the hall, spotting Hermione's bushy hair immediately. She was engrossed in a book titled, 'Household Shields'. Harry grabbed a slice of toast from Ron's plate.

"Get your own food!"

"I'll probably see you later." Harry dodged Ron's long, swiping arm.

"What? Why?" Hermione asked.

"Dumbledore wants to talk. Tell DJ I'll be in his office."

"Are you in trouble?" Hermione hissed, eyes wide. She dropped the book. "Did they find out? How do they know? Oh Morgana! They must have had scouting charms in attic –"

"Hermione, relax." Harry assured her. The headmaster wasn't at the table, but her doubts were making him nervous. "If they knew we were in London, McGonagall would be at our throats now."

"Not to mention." Ron said, sitting up and protecting his plate with a serving bowl of porridge. "Snape would have said something during Potions yesterday. The only thing that really happened was that we were introduced to the new DADA professor. She's knows her stuff, eh?"

"Professor Abitu is more hands on. And I like her idea of a Defense Club. We haven't had a proper one since second year, remember?"

Ron groaned. "Lockhart's club wasn't proper. It was a joke!"

"I'm going." Harry called.

"Yeah, bye. That idiot was a disaster, Hermione."

"Well, at the end, maybe…"

It wasn't that he was complacent. A bit of worry did creep up his spine. But it wasn't like they'd broken into the safe house. They knew its location and entry points, there was nothing illegal about it.

Dumbledore's office was not empty. The professor stood behind his desk, next to Fawkes, the magnificent phoenix and his familiar. Three people sat facing him. Sirius, Frank and the new professor.

Harry stopped at the edge of the rug.

"Come in, Harry." Dumbledore beckoned and Harry entered, wishing he was a little more confident. With a quick breath, he pushed it all away and nodded stiffly.

"Good morning, professors. Hi Sirius, Frank."

"Hi, Harry. Sit down here a moment." Sirius's voice sounded unusually subdued.

Harry's bracelet itched for some reason.

* * *

 **A little late, but longer than usual. I can't seem to keep a specific word limit. My head keeps spinning words and I keep adding conversations and descriptions to the story, making it even longer. I have to control this. Stay tuned, readers.**

 **Q: What are the monsters that Percy attracts in the chapter? (They're very strong, extremely flexible snake-demons.)**

 **Cabba.**


	31. The Past is Near

**A: Percy encountered a dozen Cerastae, they're snakes with no spines, very venomous, flexible (more so than a regular snake), so even more terrifying than the usual ones.**

 **Sherlock Harry Winchester: Lamia was a good guess, but she's a super powerful monster. Percy would have destroyed a few buildings to get away from her. Thumbs up to you!**

 **ShadeofDeath746: Rachel will be influenced by both Percy and Harry's actions. They'll fight, argue and cry over it. If my chapters get longer, you'll know that I'm trying to fit more into each because otherwise I'll just add more chapters to the fixed count of forty in my head. I don't want to extend.**

 **brade1991: Thanks, here you are!**

 **Catie Cat: Basilisk is another good guess but the Ancient Greek version spews fire, I think. And yes, Percy's going to have some out-of-character moments thanks to Tommy.**

 **The poll's still open! Here's the current ratings:  
Bianca – 13  
Ginny – 8  
DJ – 7  
Sirius – 6  
Harry – 2  
Rachel – 2  
Remus – 2  
Those of you who haven't voted yet, go on. I'll give you a clue, it's one of the more onscreen characters. (evil-author-laugh)**

 **The reason for this late update is that the week before X-mas is busy as...********. Yeah, I just put a bunch of asterisks, it doesn't mean any expletive. I apologize for the delay, and here you go, one long chapter to make up for it! Merry Christmas!**

 **Listening to – Into the Nightmare by Dark Music (Lucas King)**

* * *

 _Saturday, Oct. 20  
Mantis's office – 2:00 p.m._

Today's counselling session was slower than usual. Harry drifted quite a few times.

" _They're dead, Harry. Someone got into the Ministry and reached them with little to no effort."_

" _I don't know anything."_

" _Even a hunch would help."_

" _I don't know anyone who could walk through all kinds of protections spells."_

" _Harry…"_

" _I'm serious."_

" _I promise you, we aren't pointing fingers at anyone. If you could think about it –"_

" _I've told you everything I know. About Timothy Adalberto, Ajax Furor, Cassandra, Iphy and their boss, a woman named Taylor."_

" _Are you sure?"_

" _Yes, I know nothing else. Can we go?"_

"Harry?" Mantis called him and the teen blinked fast. So far, their session was dragging along with Harry zoning out multiple times.

"Sorry, come again?"

"I asked how your flying is."

Mantis was spectacularly patient. Nothing phased him too much and no matter how much Harry deflected some of his sharper queries, he always found some platform to jump back on. It used to grate his nerves but Harry now figured that he'd had enough experience with children's resistance.

"I haven't been flying this week."

"OWLs getting heavier?"

"Y...yes." Harry sighed and stood up to walk around the room. He went near the window and jumped on the ledge to grab the bar rungs near the ceiling that ran from one end of the room to another. Harry had originally thought they were iron ladders fixed there, but then was told they were monkey bars. Apparently, some of the kids liked swinging off of them during the sessions.

Harry swung himself above the bar and perched on the rung like Hedwig would.

"Can I tell you a secret?" Harry said, conversationally.

"Sure."

He hooked his legs over a main bar and swung upside down, leaving his arms free. "I had a fake coin."

Mantis looked confused. That was a first.

"It was a knut. The goblin head was on both sides."

He watched Mantis's overturned face turn into surprise. "A double headed bronze knut? That is very illegal, where did you find it?"

"In my vault, at Gringotts."

At this, Mantis actually looked stumped. Harry could tell that because his jaw had dropped.

"A Gringotts issued knut had a mistake?" He muttered. "I've never heard of that."

"Neither had I. I found it on my first visit there, just before my first year. I kept it with me all the time. I lost it during the summer."

Harry hesitated grabbing the bar and pulling himself up to sit on it. The blood rush to his brain slowed and breathed normally.

"Ajax took it."

His lucky knut that he'd never shown anyone, not even DJ. The coin with the abnormality. Some muggle coins had the printing mistake but goblin coins were all top tier, with no flaw to condemn them. If news got out about the coin, it would be a sure scandal. Harry'd never told anyone, because the sight of it had enthralled him. Plus, it would be good to have an edge.

He remembered Ajax jesting about the body search before he woke up in Rome. Thinking about it made his body shiver with disgust. There was a lump in his throat that he couldn't swallow down. Ajax had his lucky coin. He knew it.

There was a knock at the door. Harry looked at the time. The hour was up.

"Harry, how's your sleep schedule working?" Mantis asked, standing and walking towards him.

"It's better. I get one proper REM sleep now. The evening nap is still difficult to get used to."

"I suggested the split to help you regulate your tiredness in a different way. Some sleep is better than none. Soon, we can shift you back to the regular schedule."

"How soon?"

"Well, since we're doing this without medical aid, a couple of months at least. But there has been impressive improvement, Harry. Keep it up."

Harry nodded, leaping down from the monkey bars.

"And what have you planned to bake today?" Mantis asked as the door opened. Sirius stood there, raised eyebrows. Non-judgemental, but definitely in a hurry.

"I hadn't thought about it. I've been... busy." He admitted.

Mantis didn't look worried. On the contrary, he grinned. "No problem, Harry. Those steps I'd suggested were to put you at ease. You can still progress without certain activities. Remember to factor in the extra assignments, fifth year is not as simple and straight as the others."

I'm not simple or straight, either.

"Sure. See you later, Mantis." Harry called. Sirius clapped a hand over his shoulder. DJ stood up from his seat in the visitors' lounge and stretched, when he saw them enter the room.

"You look good." Sirius said hopefully.

"Thanks." Harry sighed. They moved aside for a woman and her son to make their way into Mantis's office.

Something pricked at Harry's nerves. He turned around to look at the boy who'd stopped to stare at Harry with shock on his face.

The young boy couldn't have been more than eight. Definitely smaller than Nico. He was East Asian with limp brown hair and pale skin stretched over his face. He dark circles under his eyes and looked frightened .

He looked scared of Harry, that is. There was recognition in his brown eyes. Harry frowned. He thought the boy looked familiar but couldn't place him anywhere from memory.

"Robbie?" The woman called. The child looked up at the mother and clung to her. He physically moved away from Harry.

Sirius turned around to look at them. "What's wrong, Harry?"

Harry shook his head slowly as the pair disappeared through the door. "I... not sure."

* * *

 _Manhattan  
Dynasty Apartment – 11:00 a.m._

Harry reclined on the bean bag, not really watching Rachel show off her nail polish collection.

A pillow was thrown at his head. Harry jerked back, barely avoiding it. He frowned at Rachel and DJ who were perched on either sides of Bolt. Rachel was in a less than impressed mood. She'd been a little quieter today, compared to the other Saturdays they'd visited her. She'd cheered up soon enough so Harry didn't want to pry.

"Emerald green, Harry. Wanna try?" She was holding up a bottle of nail polish with an intense shade of green. It almost glittered in the light.

"Not really. I generally don't paint my nails."

"Aww, but it'd really suit you! Come on! Just the toes, at least? I'd do it."

DJ smirked as though daring him and Harry glared at him. "Fine. Does it smell weird?"

"It smells like every polish does." Rachel rose from the bed and sat in front of him on the carpet. DJ turned around and lay on his stomach, propping his chin on his palms.

"So, what were you thinking?"

"Nothing. How was soccer practice?"

Rachel eyed him, curious. "You already asked me that. You okay, Harry?"

DJ cleared his throat. "You've been slightly out of it, you know? Even when Mr. Dare made that honey bee joke, you really didn't react."

"Oh god, please don't say that. I don't know what he was thinking." Rachel groaned. Harry nearly jumped when the wet brush touched the skin beside the nail. It had a dull cold feel to it. The oddness of it didn't drop until she finished all ten. She grabbed for the cotton pouch and started to dab around the nails to make it clean.

"Hey, this one's nice." DJ commented. He was pointing at Rachel's latest sketch. It was a small grim looking house, past its prime.

She looked up. "That one's not yet done."

"Can't wait to see it."

DJ then started to rifle through the box of makeup paraphernalia. He extracted a few lipstick pipes and stared at them, enthralled.

"So, what's going at Hogwarts? Any magical assignments?" She asked, raising her eyebrows as though the thought was ridiculous.

Harry shrugged but delved into the basics of the OWL year. It felt nice talking to her about the regular things. Of course, he didn't imagine this with his nails glistening a bright green, but surprises were now aplenty, and this was a non-threatening one. He wriggled his toes, wondering if his nails felt heavier with the paint.

"Hold still, I've got to put another coat. Shit, I forgot the base. Ah, never mind. DJ, could you get the toe separator?"

"What's that?"

"It's exactly what the name suggests. It's a purple stiff spongy thing."

"Like this?" DJ asked, lifting a pair of goggles from the box. Rachel gawked.

"That's where they went! I'd thought I lost them!"

"Those are swim goggles, DJ." Harry said, incredulously. "They don't have anything to do with toes."

Rachel abandoned Harry's toes and flew towards the goggles. "These were my best pair! I hate swimming without eyewear. "

"You swim?" DJ was interested, sitting up and leaning against Bolt who whipped her tail at him. He scratched the back of her neck.

"Oh yeah. Well, I used to. I stopped. I guess I have to get back to it. This is a sign." She dangled the goggles, happily, rubbing at the fibre glass.

Harry thought she didn't look like a swimmer. She didn't seem tan enough, her limbs too pale and stringy.

"In a club?" DJ asked.

"Naw, I've got a pool here. You guys ever want to swim, you can use it." She said off handed.

"You have a pool in the building?! Like, an indoor pool?" DJ asked, excited.

"Yeah…"

"Don't be so surprised, DJ." Harry said, leaning back even more. "It's probably heated."

"It is. What's your problem?" She asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Ignore him. He's scared of the water."

"Am not! I just don't like it!" Harry protested. DJ scoffed.

"You have hydrophobia?" Rachel suddenly looked interested.

"No… I don't. I don't like it, that's all."

"Dude! I had it too!"

DJ sat up so fast, Bolt fell back surprised. "Okay, you guys are definitely twins! Twins get that, you know, similar fears and feelings."

"But not experiences, DJ." Harry glared at him before turning to her. "You had hydrophobia? But you swim. How does that work?"

"I got over it."

The consistency in her tone knocked him off course. He didn't think he had something as dire as an absolute fear of water, he'd just rather stay away from it as much as was possible. But getting over it?

"It used to be bad." Rachel said, sitting back in front of Harry's feet, looking at her goggles. "I'd scream every time I saw a large puddle or even aquariums. Forget the beach, my parents couldn't even go for a summer vacation because I'd beg them to not go near the water. I was afraid they'd drown. We couldn't go near the pools in our clubs, I would get these anxiety attacks. It was terrifying."

She inhaled, closing her eyes for a bit. "It was like a live, shapeless monster. It could kill anyone if they weren't careful. I had nightmares and sleep terrors for months. I kept drawing nothing but scribbles all over the pages because I was so distraught, I couldn't hold a pencil right. And nothing could represent that kind of fear without tearing right through the paper… you've ever felt something like that? So scared that you can't breathe or speak or even see? Like quicksand pulling you in covering every inch of you, destroying every attempt you made to get away?"

Harry gripped the sides of the bean bag, tight. Even as she said it, he found it hard to breathe.

"How did you get better?" DJ quiet, with unblinking eyes.

Rachel arched her eyebrows as though she had to struggle to remember. "My parents sat me down and helped me talk about it. It was difficult at first. You can't really talk about some things. You can't find the right words or feelings to… articulate it, you know?"

Yeah. Harry thought.

"Eventually, they tried to get me to see a therapist. I guess that helped somewhat? I didn't like it much. Still, I did explain it and it made me feel better, even if they didn't understand me. But later, my mom got me a hamster. This tiny little brown ball of fluff. She was perfect."

Rachel grinned. "I guess taking responsibility of a pet helped take my mind off of the constant fear. Cutie Pie was the best thing ever. She had a little wheel in her terrarium, she loved broccoli, so I gave her all my portions. She made these little chirping sounds and when she grew all plump, I could hug her properly. She was the best."

Then her shoulders slumped. "She died after a year. I sort of relapsed again. Finally, my dad bought me a surfboard."

Harry couldn't help the snort. "A surfboard?"

"I know, right? I'd sworn to never even touch one drop from the ocean and here was my dad gifting me a surfboard of all things. But it was a cool one with hold-ons and latches. But the thing that really started to work was when we'd go for walks after heavy rains. He helped me navigate around puddles and one day, I got so bold I jumped right into one and splashed the both of us."

She smiled, hugging the goggles to her chest. "It got better after that. I learnt how to float and swim and surf. I had this trainer who really understood kids, she was the best."

Rachel took the nail polish and began the second coat on Harry's toes.

DJ placed his head on top of Bolt's. It looked odd. The tiger was larger than him but she gave a soft purr with his weight. "How did you get the fear in the first place? Did it just happen, or was there something specific?"

Harry exhaled, trying not to wriggle his toes. "Ignore him, Rachel. You don't have to say anything."

She didn't look away from her task. With careful strokes, Rachel spoke. "I was five. My parents had a conference in Finland, so we stayed at an arctic resort, Finland. One evening, they got off early, so we went for a walk on the snow plains to look at the decorations."

Her movements were methodical. Harry noticed her voice had gone a little stiff.

"There was a patch with ice. I didn't think anything of it. I was running through the snow and I hit the ice. It was too thin. It cracked and I fell."

DJ sucked in a breath. Even Bolt was listening carefully. Harry tried to imagine ice cold water in the north. It could definitely kill somebody within minutes.

"Maybe the place had been a lake before? I dunno, all I knew what that it was burning cold and I couldn't scream. It was the worst thing that'd ever happened, I thought I was dead."

"How did you get out?" DJ whispered.

Rachel paused and looked up, eyes shining. "My mom knelt by the crack, stuck her arm in and grabbed my hair. That's how she pulled me out."

Harry's jaw dropped. "Really?!"

"Uh huh. I didn't feel the pain of losing hair roots, because I was otherwise occupied with nearly freezing into an ice block. My dad said she hadn't panicked like most people would, she just went all super-mom."

"Whoa!" DJ looked awed. "That's awesome."

"Yeah. She is." Rachel agreed, looking much calmer. Harry wondered how much it cost her to tell them about the incident. It couldn't have been anything less than a worthy price. She was a stronger person than he gave credit for. Rachel conquered her fear and moved on by actually engaging with water sports. Though Harry had been in lakes and pools, he could never get out fast enough.

One other thing was nagging at the back of his mind. He'd been five as well, when he'd drowned.

"Rach?"

"Nearly done."

"Not that. It's just a query… did the… ice thing happen on Halloween?"

Why did he ask that? That was stupid, there was no way –

Rachel looked up, surprised. "Yeah, how'd you know?"

Harry lost his voice. They'd nearly drowned on the same day with a gap of a few hours. The difference was that she'd survived and he hadn't.

But he wasn't even sure of that now.

"Do you get cold shivers on Halloween night?" DJ piped up.

"Shivers? No… well, I used to. Not anymore. My doctor said it was a sort of residual remembrance. The anniversary reaction, that's what he called it."

DJ gave Harry a look of significance. Harry pressed his lips together, shooting him a warning glance. He thought of the annual _shivers_ his body would dissolve into, every night at Halloween. The multiple jumpers, the pepper up potion doses, the body-warmth charms.

"Why's it called that?"

"Guess."

"No, I mean..." DJ struggled. "I mean, why does it happen? Like, why once a year?"

Rachel shrugged, pushing back the thick and unruly locks of hair that fell over her eyes. "It's the trauma. You mark the day in your head, you pin the incident to the date and when that date rolls around again, your body could even go into shock, like it expects the same thing to happen. It's a survival instinct. You're sort of preparing for the worst. There's nothing _wrong_ about it. But the PTSD isn't a good thing. Which is why..."

She pointed to Harry with her lipstick. "You've gotta try something new. It'll distract you from what you fear. Not indefinitely, but it's a start. So tell me, either of you ever wear lipstick before?"

"Um..."

"Good. That's a nice shade, DJ. Give it a try." Rachel concluded, smirking at him. DJ looked at the lipstick in his hand. It was a mild tint of pink. "Harry, look through the pile, tell me what you like."

She was determined to do this. Harry obliged and surveyed the box of fresh tubes a variety of colours.

"Do you even use them?"

"Not as much as I would like."

Harry looked through them and decided to engage in a risky hue. "That one looks nice."

She finished his toes and look at the box, picking out the one he'd pointed to. "Magenta Matte. It would suit you better than me. Here, catch."

Before Harry could object, Rachel tossed the tiny cylinder at him. Harry steeled himself, nerves suddenly alive with the adrenaline to jump away from the shiny tube. But he focused on the black base and reached out to pluck it from its trajectory.

He looked at it, memorizing the deep pink and black cover, so different to a Greek fire grenade. He pushed the top open with his thumb, listening to the click. The smell of raspberry permeated the air and made his nostrils flare. It was very different. It was far safer.

He liked it.

"Hold still, I wanna take a picture." Rachel shot up, grabbing her phone. Harry stretched out his legs, twisting the base to examine the colour of the Magenta Matte. It was a daring shade, similar to blood red but more sinister and deeper. It suited to him. It wouldn't be very attention grabbing for a girl, but it would definitely catch all eyes if he wore it.

People already stared at him for various reasons. This would just add on to the list.

As Rachel clicked pics of his green tinted toe nails, Harry realised that this lipstick had been the first thing he'd willingly caught after months of Quidditch inactivity.

Maybe that's how she got over her fear of water. Baby steps.

"I'll show you how to put it on. It's your first time, right DJ?" Rachel asked, kneeling in front of the bed. DJ blushed.

"Is it okay? For me to wear it? I mean… it's yours… and I'm a guy… and… I don't…"

"Everybody in the entire world have the right to wear lipstick if you want to unless you're allergic to it." Rachel stated so defiantly that DJ shut up.

"Look, just rub a bit of the colour on the tip of your finger and apply it to your lips. You don't have to go full on double layers. Ooh, this pink's def your colour, DJ."

They spent five minutes putting it on. Harry wanted to laugh. It felt like a silly little secret. He'd never done anything like this before.

"Whoa! Harry, you look like Rachel!" DJ exclaimed.

"Really? Why hasn't anyone told me this?"

"That's because conventionally, female faces have shading over their eyelids and lips while males don't." Rachel said, recapping her tube. She'd applied a sweet pink colour. "It's seriously restrictive and heteronormative."

DJ looked confused. He turned to the mirror, touching his lips repeatedly. "What's hetero-normative?"

"It means you're focused on the world's population of more than 7 billion, being divided perfectly between straight guys and straight girls, all cisgendered and no diversity. It's part of the patriarchal system in place. Non-heteronormativity gives space for lots of different and new identities to co-exist peacefully in a healthy environment."

Harry looked at her, impressed. "You really know your stuff."

She grinned. "I'm queer and an ally to all diversities. There's no place for homophobic assholes in my world. Or racist or transphobic ones. Generally, no assholes allowed."

He wondered where she'd gain so much courage to speak it out loud. Her confidence made him want to come out as well. It was almost too easy. Here he was, standing in front of the mirror, for once not really bothered by his reflection, wearing bright colours, painted nails and lips, not his _regular_ outfit, and he didn't feel awkward at all. DJ kept prodding at the colour since he was very unused to it, but Harry found nothing disturbing.

"Selfie time!" Rachel yelled.

"Um, no! Rach, really. I don't –" DJ stuttered.

"I won't show it to anyone, silly. I promise, it's just between the four of us." She said, switching on her phone again. Harry pressed his lips together. This shade really was good for him.

"Promise?" DJ warned.

"I swear, Danny." She ruffled his hair even though they were the same height. Harry laughed at DJ's expression.

"Come on. Arms around each other, we're all in this together." She chanted, pulling DJ to her left. Harry flanked his left and caught her gaze. Rachel directed her eyes at their cousin and back at him, winking. He understood immediately and held back another laugh.

"Okay, one, two… three!"

DJ yelped as both Rachel and Harry ducked towards his face and kissed his cheeks. They heard the camera shutter and DJ complained about it for the next few hours because the lipsticks were smudge proof.

* * *

 _Sunday, Oct. 21  
Frost Mansion, Gretna Green – 3:00 p.m._

"Five acres is a lot to cover, DJ." Luna contemplated. DJ nodded, observing the grounds around Frost. The two fourth years were in Gretna Green, evaluating how much extra warding the place would need to house an intermagical-halfgodly meeting. They really needed to find a better name for it.

DJ wondered if Luna could even create a ward big enough for the entire place. Frost was huge. Not as huge as the average mansion in the British country side, but it was colossal for one underage witch.

"You said you'd done the warding around your house." DJ said, looking over her shoulder at the roughly drawn map of Frost. Her radish earring bumped against his nose.

"Daddy helped of course. But I laid the foundation for it. That's what the plan is here. I'll trace the boundary, focus the grounding there. Then we can get the dome shield enchantment packs that you stole from the Order –"

"Borrowed." DJ muttered.

Luna turned around, their faces closer than needed for a casual conversation. She smiled. "You're blushing."

"Oh..." He pulled back. His face did feel hot. "Sorry."

"For blushing?"

"Um..."

"It's cute." She insisted. It didn't help his condition.

When Harry had told DJ to bring Luna to Frost and appraise the shield requirements, DJ had nearly choked. It wasn't that he couldn't do it, Luna was chill with bending rules, disturbingly so, but the fact that the two of them would be alone for half an hour, made goosebumps erupt on his arms. They never got a chance to be alone.

And it wasn't like he wanted to be alone with her. That's ridiculous.

She was still smiling as she looked down to study the outline of the house. DJ felt like he was developing a fever. He was cold and hot at the same time.

"Alright, let's walk the line." She announced and started to walk beside the boundary, holding her wand out and muttering the same spell over and over again. " _Ancoras Iacio_."

They walked for just more than half a kilometre, navigating through the stretch of trees on one side and through the shrubs on the other, finally coming back to plain grassland near the gates. There was a short drive way that had not seen a car since the mansion was built. DJ and Luna stepped onto the gravel of the road and looked back at their path. DJ swore he could see the air above the territorial line shimmer like a heat wave.

"Who's bringing the pack?" Luna asked turning her attention towards the bright white sky. The clouds were scattered so thinly and nearly even that most of the blue was covered. The day wasn't dull though. In fact, it was rather hot, especially after their short walk.

"Fred and George sneaked it into the village and Nico picked it up from there." DJ replied, breathing out and placing his hands on his hips. A few of her shorter strands had fluttered out of Luna's braid and the slight breeze made them dance about her face.

"That's good. And how long would Harry take in opening the floo line?"

"No idea. It's the first time he's doing it..."

Luna turned back to him. She was barely an inch taller, and her thick hair added to her height even more. Well, it didn't detract DJ's own head of hair which wasn't as terrible and electrified as Harry's but still stuck up quite a bit.

On a whim, he suddenly had the urge to touch Luna's hair. DJ gulped and stepped back, shoving his hands into his pockets. He had no idea when he started to think about her like this. It wasn't so awkward last year, or even just a few months ago.

Thankfully, Nico exited the house just then. He was carrying a large carton box which filled up his arms. DJ exhaled in relief. Luna grinned as he approached them.

"Hello, Nico! You have a lovely aura today."

"Oh. Thanks, Luna. So do you. Here's the stuff. George said... or maybe it was Fred... one of them said, we need to use _seven holders for every ward_. Does that make sense?"

"Hermione must have figured that. Four is better, though." She took the box from him and set it on the ground, kneeling before it. DJ and Nico watched as she rifled through the small violet coloured ...things. DJ stared. They seemed even more out of shape than toe separators.

"What are they?" Nico asked.

"I think they're caster pots." DJ hedged. Luna held one of the oddly shaped pots that looked nothing like a pot. It fit perfectly in her palm.

"Daddy calls them 'pigmented shield holders'." Luna hummed, turning it over. "You stick them into the ground right where you want the shield to be. They'll hold the ward and alert the caster if there's any kind of tampering being done to it. And four is the best number for stability."

"Really?" DJ was surprised, placing his hands on his knees. "Isn't seven better?"

"I thought three meant stability and safety." Nico asked.

"No, you would never use three as a base for anything in powerful magic." Luna cautioned, widening her eyes. "Three would make the structure collapse and the entire system would fall in and implode. And seven is a failsafe, power-wise, but we need this ward to be sensitive enough to respond to whatever we need the situation to do. Four is best for anything."

She sounded so sure that he agreed. He knew Hermione would have something to say to that, so he kept quiet. No, the reason he didn't argue was because when it came to shields, Luna was the best.

"But we always go by threes." Nico insisted as Luna stood up. "Three is safest, we prefer three demigods on a quest, three deities with a specific power, like the Big Three, the Fates –"

"Three is not safe, Nico, it's powerful. Just like seven, it goes by its faculties of relying on one another to hold up the structure. It's about balance. But with four, each one can have its own regulation and the whole system will still hold. It's not as strong, but it ensures the safest path to whatever you want to achieve." She looked over to the entrance and pointed at it. "We'll place two of the holders on either side of the gates. The other two will be spread out to farther points. An isosceles trapezium is our best bet. I'll measure them properly for the date."

"You know... in Runes, four is not really known for stability." DJ pointed out. "It actually has a connection with insanity."

"I'm not going along Runic logic." She said simply, picking up the box. "People put too much stock with Ancient Runes, there are other safer, temporary and more stable ways of achieving things. Regular magic is as brilliant as you want it to be. We need the magic to work in course of _Eihwaz_ more than _Ehwaz_."

DJ grinned. Yeah, Hermione wouldn't be happy at all. But he felt Luna was right about this. Sharing a looked with Nico who shrugged in defeat, they followed her into the house.

Nico elbowed him. "She likes you!"

"W-what?!"

"She keeps looking at you all... star-eyed. Did you say something to her?"

DJ's face burned at Nico's observation. Luna liked him? She stared at him like that?

"I...dunno."

* * *

 _Sunday, Oct. 21  
Dynasty Apartment, Manhattan – 12:00 p.m._

Rachel woke up late, utterly miserable. She hadn't slept properly, waking up at odd hours, finally falling into a half conscious state by the time it was six in the morning. She had fought with her conscious for the entirety of the previous day, debating on how or even whether to tell Harry and DJ about Kronos's offer. How was she supposed to even put it in words? Percy was clearly _too busy_ for silly worries such as this.

Not to mention that stupid presentation she was now stuck with.

"You should have told them." Bolt said. They made their way down the stairs, heading for the kitchen for a pick-me-up that wasn't alcoholic.

"Shut up. I haven't decided yet."

"Decided? What's there to – Rachel, you can't seriously –"

"Morning, sleepyhead. OJ?" Her mother interrupted and Rachel was glad for it. Bolt fell quiet but she could feel the puppy form trembling with anxiety.

Her mother sat on the island, sipping her Earl Grey with her little finger stuck out. She pointed at the tetra pack on the counter.

"Owen's out right now. I've asked him to pick up some groceries. Figured I'd make Bayonne Ham since I'm free for the day!"

Rachel stayed. "Mom... Bayonne Ham needs to air dry for months before we can eat it."

Beatrice stared. "Okay. Did not know that. Fine, so no Foie Gras, no Bayonne Ham..."

"You thought of making Foie Gras?"

"I... I forgot about the controversy."

"Allez, Maman!" Rachel sighed. She reached for the pack. (Oh, c'mon, mom.)

"Désolée, ma fifille." Her mother cooed, booping her nose. (Sorry, my little girl.)

She wrinkled her nose at the dramatic endearment. She wasn't little. Rachel grabbed a glass from the shelf and nearly dumped the juice into it, spilling a bit. Her frustration was apparent. Beatrice set down her phone on which she'd probably been checking recipes.

"C'est quoi?" (What is it?)

"Nothing... _J'ai le cafard…"_ _Rachel sighed, wondering what her mother would say to all the celestial problems that existed in the world. (I'm feeling down.)_ Beatrice frowned, clearly not willing to let her out so easily. "Rachel, I know I haven't been here enough... but, if there's something bothering you –"

"It's nothing, maman. It's... just school... there are people everywhere, you know? And I miss Aunt Sandy, she promised she'd visit me and she hasn't yet."

Beatrice wrapped an arm around her shoulder, squeezing her. "Sandy's working with the Autumn and Winter lines. Our eco-friendly project hit a snag recently. It's not easy to make perfumes and deodorants nature friendly."

Rachel sighed. "Yeah... but I'm glad you're making the effort. The lavender and wild flower ones are alright. Dream Rose needed a tweak."

"It's always the roses." Her mother sighed. "And what's up at school? Have you been hazed? Was it a student? A teacher?"

"No, mom. Nothing like that. Goode's fine. There are a few nuts around, but the rest of the trail mix is good."

"And soccer?"

"Soccer's going great. The practice matches are already shaping up to look great. And my thighs jiggle a lot less now."

Her mother patted her arm. "There was nothing wrong with your thighs before."

"They were huge... fat."

"And what did Genie say about that?"

Rachel sighed. Genie was Sandy's wife, who'd once faced a lot of body image issues. It wasn't that Rachel was very distraught about her body, she thought she was okay... nothing like a super toned demigod with perfect blond curls, stark silver eyes that could attract goofy, green eyed, _too busy_ teen boy...

"I have actual stretch marks on my thighs, mom. Right at the top."

"There's nothing wrong with having stretch marks." Her mother coached. "And I distinctly remember Genie saying something about fat-phobia."

"I wasn't being fat-phobic, honest! I just... it's better now."

Beatrice made a noise of speculation. "Thigh gaps are dangerous, Rachel. I hope you're not –"

"Mom, I'm not stupid! Thigh gaps are bad, I get it. I don't have one, so stop that!"

She glared at her juice as she finished it off, looking around the kitchen for something to eat. Her mother silently pulled out a tray from beside the stove. It had some bread toast and Rachel reluctantly reached for them. Beatrice picked up Bolt who yipped in surprise. The puppy then got a petting of her life.

"Is it that Jackson boy?"

Rachel froze. "What?"

"Is he bothering you?"

"Percy wouldn't... no, mom, it's not him, it's... well, I was wondering... what d'you think about the gods?"

The question was a split second decision to divert her mom's attention from the previous subject to something that could help her. She was having trouble dealing with the Titan's offer and couldn't get Percy's help. Fine, she'd ask for some guidance.

Her mother had a degree in European History from a university whose name Rachel couldn't remember. She'd know something, even if it wasn't the absolute real deal.

"Which ones?" Beatrice asked.

"Huh?"

"Which gods? There are a billion, I'm sure."

Her parents were agnostic so this would be easier than she thought.

"Well... Greek history in Goode starts with the Olympians... you know them?"

Beatrice grinned. "Oh, yes. We're rather old friends. It's been a while since we've spoken."

"Mom..."

"What do you want to know, Rachel? Thinking of polytheism?"

"May be." She hedged. "What do you think about the Greek Gods? Like... from the stories?"

Rachel chewed on her toast as her mother scratched Bolt's ears. The puppy was purring like a cat. Luckily, her mom didn't notice.

"They were powerful and immortal and absolutely childish." Beatrice said so casually and Rachel winced. It felt like the sky rumbled. This suddenly didn't feel like a good idea.

"What does your text book say about them?" Her mother asked.

"Just that they had their territories to rule and the myths of heroes and stuff. What kind of religion do you think it is? It was, I mean."

"For one thing, there are people who believe in those gods, so let's not shut it in the past." Beatrice cautioned setting Bolt down on the counter. "And for another, The

Greek gods are my absolute favourite historical phenomenon."

"Phenomenon?"

"Absolutely. Where else would you get to read about such a dysfunctional family with so much power that they could huff and puff and disintegrate a planet? It's hilarious!"

Okay, the sky actually thundered. Their apartment seemed to shake momentarily and Beatrice looked out of the window, startled.

"Ha ha, mom! Yeah, but let's talk about the legends, those are awesome, right? They're incredible and powerful and completely divine. All the stories and the myths!

The gods helping mortals, what about that?"

Rachel wondered if Zeus would throw a lightning bolt at them. He could and Rachel wished they didn't live in such a tall building.

"I...I don't know about gods helping mortals... they always had their ulterior motives." Beatrice stood up from the island. "People were definitely influenced by the nature around them. That's how the stories of the Greek gods were developed. It's rather fascinating."

"So, like Homer wrote those epics based on the stories he heard, right?"

"Yes... and no. People knew of the gods way before Homer. In fact, there's been some debate on whether he had written the Illiad and the Odyssey by himself or if it was a bunch of authors. I'd like to think it was him... he was very learned, a great orator. The thing about the Greek gods is that they aren't meant to be worshipped like many other religions. Christianity and Judaism had their monotheism or trinity aspects which commanded the followers' respect and devotion, but the Greek gods were very different."

Beatrice looked excited at the prospect of teaching Rachel about Ancient Greek history.

Rachel blinked once towards Bolt before asking. "But they're gods... they're supposed to be worshipped, right?"

"These deities had interesting origins." Beatrice settled beside her. "The ancient Greeks were believers before they became thinkers. People wanted to rely unexplainable things onto higher powers. If they had a drought, a flood, or any natural calamity for that matter, they would attribute it to the curse of the gods. They had a specific kind of lifestyle that was regulated with offerings and sacrifices to the gods to please them. And once the rituals were done, the people would go back to their lives, free from worry or any guilt consciousness. They'd done their parts and now it was up to the gods to decide. They believed that the will of the gods was unpredictable and unreliable. No matter what the mortals did or thought, the immortals existed on a different plane."

She smiled. "In a way, it was more lax that the religions that developed west to Greece. That's a wonderful thing, you know, Rachel. The Greeks had the ability to compartmentalise their faith and reasoning. When the era of the intellectuals rose, people like Socrates and Plato and Aristotle... I'm mixing up the chronology... they were brilliant. Do you know the story of Socrates's death?"

Rachel swallowed her bread hastily. "Yeah! He drank some poison. Like, nobody force fed him, he did it on his own."

"Hemlock." Her mom said. Her voice turned ethereal. Rachel tried to imagine her in a classroom teaching Greek History 101.

"The state had sentenced him to death because he never gave his students answers to the vast philosophical questions he'd led them to think. The meaning of life... the explanation of the moon, the curvature of the earth... Socrates encouraged people to question anything and everything. The lack of answers frustrated many people who wanted him dead... there were some other politics as well, I'll not get into that now. But the point is that, before he resigned to his fate, he sacrificed a rooster, I think, to one of the gods... said it was for something he'd prayed to them a while back. But do you see, Rachel?"

I see too much, Rachel thought. She cleared her throat. "Um... see what?"

"He separated the matter of him being sentenced to death from the fact that he had to pay his due to the gods. He made it seem natural. Socrates did not see it as a punishment from a deity. That's how much he did not fear death. It's beautiful."

Rachel stared. "It doesn't sound beautiful. Socrates was a philosopher, it's his job to make people think and debate, right? How could they kill him for that?"

Beatrice snatched a slice of toast and tore a tiny piece from it, feeding it to Bolt. "That was an example, Rachel. I'll tell you about Socrates some other time. The point I'm making is about the gods. As the ancients saw it, you do not worship the gods. It's not part of your everyday life. It's not so deep rooted that you cannot make decisions without them."

"That sentence has a triple negative."

"You _fear_ the gods." Beatrice iterated. Her voice took a serious turn. "The offerings and rituals and celebrations were all done to placate the gods. You had to do everything you could to keep them happy. Angry beings in power can make your life miserable. The Greeks made sure to conduct their regular festivities to play up to the powers, nothing else. Many poets dedicated their works to certain deities, beautifully written, you should read the ones written by Sappho, she was magnificent."

She shook her head and sighed. "Really, the more interesting stories were about the heroes rather than the gods. That's what people wanted, someone who they could connect to, but also powerful and just as flawed as the gods. The one thing all those tragedies have gotten right is that no being is perfect. Heroes were the absolute centre of ideas. Half god, half mortal, they faced the perils that mortals feared and they won through super-human intellect and strength, or if a god favoured them, or really, utter dumb luck. They had their patrons and their hamartia, their good looks and rotten attitudes, the best of humanity and the worst of the gods...or the other way around."

Beatrice laughed as Rachel's heart chilled. "If I were in Ancient Greece... well, I'd probably have a dozen children, lose half of them to illnesses, and get kidnapped and married a couple of times, these people like their coloured slaves,... but I'd pity those heroes. They had it the worst of all."

* * *

 **This delay was intolerable... for you lot. I was lazy and ill. Still, stay tuned everyone!**

 **Q: Did canon!Rachel ever regret taking up the role of host of the Oracle's spirit?**

 **Cabba.**


	32. The Game Changer

**A: I haven't read the ToA, yet. So other than that, the series doesn't show Rachel rethinking her decision of being the Oracle's host. Guest, and Catie Cat probably got it right, if she did regret it, RR might have put it in ToA. And if not, well, this Rachel's gonna have some major issues with... well, you'll find out.**

 **Sherlock Harry Winchester: Thanks! Oh, yeah, that selfie moment with Rachel and Harry kissing DJ has been in my head for months. I can't believe I finally got to write it! That photo'll come up some time, don't worry.**

 **Guest: Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!**

 **Catie Cat: Merry Christmas to you too. DJ started out as a young Daniel Radcliffe. He's sort of different now. Blue eyes, messy black hair, not as bad as Harry's or Rachel's, a nearly a head shorter than Harry, same height with Rachel. He looks less like Harry than before. His most distinctive feature is the shape of his eyes. I've always seen the upper part of his face as being bigger and more expressive, especially in contrast to Harry who actively tried to restrict his expression. He wears generally branded clothes, good quality ones, bright colours like red, blue and black. (Yes, black is bright when it comes to certain clothes.)**

 **He's more social, trying to get on everyone's good side, a good kid, a good friend. Very powerful in terms of Core magic. He can calm down most people with anxiety attacks, especially Ginny, who has a very dangerous and powerful Core as well. And I suppose you'd call him metrosexual, too. He has an avid interest in clothes, goes shopping with no quips, helps around the house with work, meticulous with his space, likes things clean and immaculate. He's not a Gary Stu. He can get jealous, still does with Percy, had problems with Harry going to camp, but was able to understand later and got through it. He's not perfect. DJ was slightly envious of Harry in his first year, because everyone saw him as** _ **Harry Potter's cousin**_ **and not as a unique person. And the people who spoke to him called him 'Daniel' or 'Potter', not DJ like he wanted them to.**

 **There's no specific reason for me making him. But I wanted someone to combat toxic masculinity that a lot of male characters end up having. Harry started out as that, I think, but is in a better place now. A lot of my characters change and while it's difficult to keep track of each change, it's good development.**

 **And I wanted Harry to have a brother figure. This was before I made Rachel his twin. I ended up giving Harry more family than I intended (what with the Jacksons and Sirius and Remus and Nico and Rosalie and Tonks) and I'm glad I did, this boy needs it!**

 **Wow, that was long. What's even longer is this chapter. Be glad for New Year's, people. I'm sitting up till midnight writing this and I bit my deadline of 00:00.**

 **Listening to – Invisible by Linkin Park**

* * *

 _Manhattan, Tuesday Oct. 23,  
Jacksons' Apartment – 8:00 a.m._

"You'll definitely not see me for the week." Sirius was saying. Percy and Nico dug into their breakfasts and Sally nodded, closing the newspaper. Percy caught sight of the photo of the broken up liquor shop and smiled.

"What kind of Ministry work do you have?" Nico asked, cutting his waffles.

"Mostly supervision. Which is cool, I'll be breathing down Dawlish's neck the entire day tomorrow."

Sally sighed. "That man hates you because you make no effort with having any sort of positive association. This is just like Kreacher."

Sirius dropped his fork. "Damn, I haven't you! I locked Kreacher in the attic!"

Percy and Nico stopped eating and Sally gaped.

"What?! Why would you do that?"

"Day before yesterday, I asked him to unlock Regulus's door so that I could clean it up. He did it without a fuss."

Sirius's explanation didn't explain anything.

"Okay...?" Nico asked, waiting for him to continue.

"Kreacher _worshipped_ Regulus, even more than my mother, more than everyone he'd ever met. He'd wring his own neck rather than do anything that would disturb Reg's memory."

"You expected him to put up a fight and when he didn't, you shut him in the attic?" Sally was half way between exasperated and enraged. "Where's the logic, Sirius?"

The man leaned against the back of the chair. "You don't understand! Kreacher would never do something like that. I think he's finally lost it! Not to mention the other bizarre things that I found in the house."

"Like what?"

"Well, for one thing, the boggart we stored in the attic? It's gone! I asked the Order if any of them removed it but nobody knows. I searched the house, it's not there."

Percy shot a warning look at Nico to stop him from blurting anything.

Sally looked worried. "You think Kreacher let it leave?"

"I think Kreacher killed it. I'm not saying that's bad, but... no, it is bad, I ordered him to not do anything major without my permission. I think he's starting to resist the commands." Sirius gave a slight groan. "It's too risky to let him stay, but we can't let him go either."

"But you're his master, how can he resist your orders?" Percy asked, feeling his heart palpitate painfully. He was almost sure Tom had something to do with this.

"He's too old and tired to exercise any kind of rebellion. I know many of my family members wouldn't have wanted me to take up the title of Head of the Black house. This kind of magic could interfere with my authority. It shouldn't, because most of them are dead. And if my command slips, Kreacher would look up to the Malfoys, so I can't let it get too bad without me doing something about it."

Sirius went back to his waffles and Sally patted his arm. Percy looked up and saw Tom sitting at the spare chair at the table, examining the beat up, old ring he'd stolen from Dumbledore. The diadem was peeking out of a small leather pouch that Tom had acquired from gods know where. It looked alarmingly similar to Harry's. Percy hoped Tom hadn't swiped it from him.

"Relax, I got this from elsewhere." Tom muttered. He spoke brazenly, with no fear of detection from the wizard, the demigod and the clear sighted mortal who sat ignorant of him.

Tom set the ring down and continued. "Although, I might have something to do with Kreacher's odd behaviour."

He smiled at Percy who looked away, fuming.

"Is it possible that he may be listening to someone else?" Percy asked Sirius. Tom huffed.

"I really hope not. But it's starting to look that way. If worst comes to worst, I may have to put him down."

Nico gasped. "What!? You'd kill him!"

"Nico, c'mon. He was rude to you all the time." Percy pointed out. Sally looked at Percy surprised.

"He was rude to everyone. So, I didn't actually find that too offensive." Nico said, slouching.

"I'm sorry, Nico. Best thing we can do is to send him away to work for another Order member, but the shock might kill him anyway. Tonks told me to send him to Hogwarts were the other elves would be able to keep an eye on him."

"That's better." Sally agreed. "Do that."

"You can order him not to kill himself." Nico suggested. "Then no matter what he does, he can't off himself!"

Tom snorted. "Good idea."

Percy pressed his lips together. _What's so funny?_

"Oh, nothing... just don't be surprised when you find out that Kreacher killed himself."

 _Why's he taking orders from you?_

Tom's eyes glittered as he turned the diadem in his hands. Percy could feel the locket trying to draw him closer to the jewellery.

"Kreacher spent years trying to destroy the locket. I spent years trying to get into his head. Guess who won."

Sirius reached for the milk. "Anyway, the Daily Prophet realised a statement yesterday about the four men killed last week. A lot of reporters came up with the conclusion that their deaths were suicides and you should hear some of the conspiracy theories. They'll rival plots of thrillers."

Sally sighed. "Did anyone connect it to Harry?"

"Not yet, thankfully. That's why I'm going to the Ministry. I'll set at the Board for the week, filtering out any questions about Harry, the Rome incident, anything about demigods and the Order. Not to mention the reworking of the Vervion protection. That made the headlines so it's our first topic to tackle. King promised it to be a busy week for us."

Percy sat up. "How busy? You can still drop by here, right?"

"Probably not. Any time I'm free, you lot'll be asleep. The only time I'll be able to breathe is on Saturday because I'll have to get the boys to London and then to Rachel's. It's the only time I'll be looking forward to Patrick's jokes."

"Aww." Percy moaned theatrically. "Couldn't you at least meet us on Friday? I think mom's free too. I was feeling homesick last week. I sort of wanted to do something with the entire fa – group."

Sirius looked surprised. Sally smiled. "Percy, that's so sweet."

Nico raised an eyebrow, trying to figure out what he was doing. Tom rolled his eyes.

"That sounds great, Percy. I'm really sorry, though. I'm packed this week. I'll try to take off at least one day in November."

"Oh, we can do something fun on a Saturday. Harry and DJ will be free too. We can get pictures for Remus." Sally cheered.

"Then may be the three of us can do something on Friday." Nico said slowly, following Percy's lead.

Sally ran her fingers through Nico's hair. "You boys are going to give me diabetes. I have a lovely set of deadlines set this weekend for the office. I'll be late everyday till Sunday."

"You're working on Sunday?" Percy asked.

"It's just once. I'll be free next weekend."

"Oh, that's bad." Nico moaned so dramatically that Percy had to hold back from kicking his leg. Tom cackled, slipping the diadem and ring into the pouch.

"Looks like you got your safe slot for the meeting." Tom noted. Percy exhaled, knowing it wasn't foolproof. Just because the Order was busy for the week didn't mean a few of them wouldn't drop by the safe house or Frost to pick up or drop something. The floo between the Big House at camp and Frost was up and running. Harry and Percy had spent several hours fixing every corner of it, grounding it down to ensure mass transits. Aside from Harry, no other witch or wizard would be able to use it. They didn't have the agency to enter camp. Harry had agreed to disillusion the hearth so that only the demigods could find it. They didn't want any daring magic wielder to try and floo to camp.

"Brunch was delicious, Sally." Sirius helped clear the table.

"I had some help." She looked towards Nico who ducked his head.

"Err, I just mixed the batter."

"It was good, Nico! Take credit for your work."

Percy watched as the dishes flew towards the sink and the tap started running by itself.

"You're gonna spoil me." Sally warned. Sirius grinned, standing up. He shrugged on his robes and kissed her. "Worth it. I'll see you next Tuesday. Bye, guys."

"Bye." They waved as Sirius took the floo back to England. Sally brushed some crumbs from her skirt.

"Alright, off to school, the both of you. And try not to get into trouble this time."

Nico flushed and Percy shrugged like 'what're-you-gonna-do'. Sally whacked a towel over his head. Apparently, she had been called when Nico had gotten detention a while back. She hadn't scolded him, but made it very clear that if he had problems he should tell her. Percy wondered when exactly Nico started to look up to her with such dedication. It was the same thing with DJ, they both trusted Sally. Same with Harry too.

Percy felt odd.

 _Don't be stupid, of course they'll like her, mom's great. Who doesn't like her?_

 _Stop smiling, Tom._

* * *

 _Scotland, Tuesday Oct. 23,  
Hogwarts –4:00 p.m._

The school started to make its way to the grounds. The first Quidditch match of the year was between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. Ron had made the team just barely, beating out McLaggen, and deflating his head considerably. Ginny, to everyone's surprise would be playing seeker. The team had tried to keep it a secret, but the news had gotten out that Harry wouldn't be playing for the term. He'd gotten his share of dirty looks all around up until the match.

Ginny was nervous. Harry had never seen her like that. She held hands with Luna who wore a hat that had a stuffed badger and a lion drinking giggle water and hiccupping every so often.

Ron was starting to look green. Fred and George were failing spectacularly in uplifting him.

"C'mon, Ronnie!" One of them encouraged. "Just think about the latest practice, you did pretty well then. I mean, you nearly slipped and knocked your head on the broom, but you didn't let any quaffles in!"

"George, that's not very conducive." Hermione complained. She and Harry were waiting with the team outside the stadium, near the Gryffindor tent. Angeline was going over the several plans they'd mapped out over the course. It took her a month to start talking to Harry again after he'd informed her that he'd be dropping out. At least they were on speaking terms now. He was sure that had Oliver still been the captain, the bloke would have sacrificed a few animals to him.

"Hermione, you don't know our brother like we do." George informed her. "He works better like this."

"You mean with your half-arsed encouragements?" Harry asked.

Katie marched out of the tent and slapped Fred on the arm. "Inside, all of you, now!"

"Alright, geez! Keep your goggles on! Let's go, brothers and sister."

Ron still looked numb and green so Hermione stood on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek. "Do you best, Ron. We have faith in you."

Harry watched as something seemed to snap inside Ron's blank eyes. The red head blinked and stared at Hermione like he'd never seen her before.

"Good luck, Ron." Harry said, but he was sure that went unheard.

The other non-players, mingling about the tent were sent up to the stands. Harry turned around to watch Ron follow Ginny inside, both of them rather stiff.

The stadium was crowded as it always was. Harry had never watched a Gryffindor match from the stands, so it felt a little out of place for him. The noise was of deafening levels and his ears hurt but the enthusiasm made up for it. He sat next to Hermione, who found a couple of spare seats beside Lavender and Parvati.

"Ask him, then." Parvati was saying. Lavender looked around Hermione and caught Harry's eye.

"Hey, Harry. Did you sign up for the Defence Club that DADA prof set up? I didn't see your name on the list yesterday."

Harry leaned across Hermione to focus on her voice better. "Abitu's got good experience. I forgot about it yesterday. Thanks for reminding me, Lavender."

"Welcome. You're not gonna believe this, but not many people signed up for it."

Hermione frowned. "Why not?"

Parvati answered. "Neville said that half the third years were making fun of her accent. But the real problem was that apparently Dumbledore favoured her over Nathan Sharpling."

Harry scoffed. "Sharpling? He works at the Ministry with the Security department. I've seen him, he's not fit to finish a short jog, forget an active teaching profession."

"It's not just that." Lavender said. "Cornelius Fudge wanted Sharpling to work with Umbridge at Hogwarts. They had a huge press conference after that Death Eater's body was found in Zonko's. Fudge promised the papers that he'd get the best man on the job. Sharpling has Runic experience and 1000 hours of field work. He was the public's favourite."

"He's far past his prime." Harry shook his head. "Trust me, we should be glad we got Abitu. She knows her stuff, she can duel, she can settle down a class of fifty kids with one look. That's what we need."

"Well, I hope you can convince Seamus then." The girls sat back. Lavender looked distracted, searching the field for something.

"Why, isn't Seamus signing up?"

"He says, Abitu's accent is fake. Says, there's something fishy about her."

Harry swallowed. Hermione looked stricken. The Order had informed them that Rhonda Abitu was Neville's mum in disguise. Alice had been the first choice to take up the role in such short notice. Harry knew that if he'd signed up for the club she was putting together for defence purposes, several crowds would follow his lead. But Hermione's idea had been for him to wait.

They wanted to find out who were really confident and determined to sign up for it. Right now, only thirty students had opted for it. Harry counted at least twenty of them he'd like to introduce the demigod world to.

Unfortunately, the list contained only three Slytherins, Malfoy, Zabini and Daphne Greengrass. While Daphne might have supporters in the form of DJ's clique, he wasn't as ready to trust the other two, yet.

Hermione whispered, "Percy said that Frost may be free on Friday. How fast can we work this?"

Harry watched as the coach blew the whistle and the match began. Players clad in red and yellow robes zoomed through each other in a dizzying array. The crowd cheered when someone stole the quaffle.

"Really fast." He breathed out. "I'm going to have to talk to Daphne."

Hermione nodded. Daphne and her sister, Astoria were the only Slytherins they were willing to consider, but like Luna had said, they needed enough representatives from all houses if this had to work. Luckily, they had ten people to go out and recruit in secret. Harry craned his neck and caught the sight of Neville sitting with the Hufflepuffs. A little further away was Ginny with Astoria and her dorm mates who generally stayed away from the regular mill of bigots. Luna and Colin were sitting with four of their friends from the Queer Association and DJ was chatting with younger half of the Gobstones Club.

The goal was to steer the conversation between Quidditch and Percy Jackson. The entire castle knew vague things about Percy. By regulating the discussion, Hermione hoped that they could soon actually introduce him in person with the targeted groups. Fred and George had been assigned to invite all the seventh years that they could find. Ron and Hermione had aimed for all the prefects and Harry... well, he'd had his list of fans, none of whom he could trust with something like this for the sole reason he knew nothing about them.

"Is that right?" Lavender gasped. Harry turned to stare at the three girls. Hermione was trying to look abashed while Parvati and Lavender gaped at her.

"Is what right?"

"Is Percy really not a wizard?"

Okay, follow the script.

Harry gave a casual shrug. "He told me he was a half-blood. I don't know where the rumours start."

"But how did he get into the castle? Did Dumbledore invite him for the tasks? Was he like a wild card?"

Harry gave them an exasperated glance. "He was invited by someone high up."

Parvati looked sly. "And how did you meet him?"

"Um... in the passing... I've known him a while..."

She shared a giggle with Lavender.

"What?"

"Is he your boyfriend?"

Hermione gave a hiccup and turned to stare at Ron in the pitch. Harry scoffed.

"Why would you ask that?"

"Everyone thought it, last year. I mean, you two were pretty attached at the hip."

"No, we weren't."

Lavender folded her arms. "Guess you're in for a treat, Harry."

He rubbed the sides of his head, scratching against the scalp. It must have been in Skeeter's banned article. He really wanted to wring her neck now. How did so many people get their hands on it if it was taken out of publishing within a few days? People couldn't be that desperate for trash. He was deluding himself. They were going to have a meeting with everyone thinking he liked Percy. Perfect. Could it get any better?

"Look, I just...

"Sorry, Harry. We're just teasing. Yes, of course. We believe you. Percy's really sweet, by the way."

Hermione sighed in mild relief. "Well thank you, Lavender. We were wondering if the both of you could meet up with us in the empty classroom on the sixth floor. Room 420."

Lavender and Parvati frowned. "What, is it a secret get away?"

"No. It's just really important. We're calling a few people there. Can you do that?"

"Why?"

"It's... we'll explain tomorrow. I promise. Five O'clock, room 420, okay?"

They didn't look suspicious, probably used to Hermione's half cryptic attitude since they shared a dorm. "Alright? It better be worth it."

"Oooh! Keeper Weasley nearly slipped up on that! But what a return! Smith with the quaffle and OOOF! That's a nasty crash with Summerby!" Lee was on a roll. Harry could barely hear him over the hundreds of students. Even with the mic, the commenting was drowned out from his vantage point.

Even from a distance, he could see Ginny's miniscule form, high above the ground, scanning for the snitch. Harry wished she'd fly lower. Height wasn't always such an advantage. Still, she had speed on her side. She could dart from one end of the pitch to the other if needed. But if Summerby was closer to the snitch, he might get to it before her.

DJ was making his way up to their row. Lavender and Parvati always sat at the end to get away from the robust energy of the fans in the front rows. Hermione and Harry shuffled to give DJ some space.

"Granpa's here."

"Who?" Hermione asked. Harry sighed. "He means Dumbledore."

"Yeah, sorry. He reached an hour ago, Akira told me. You know the password to his office, right?"

Harry nodded. He hadn't wanted to do this during the match, but any moment Dumbledore was away from Fawkes was a precious moment.

"Now?" Hermione asked, gazing at Ron in the distance. He was hovering nervously by the goal posts.

"He'll have to attend the match, it's the only time he'll be away from the office." DJ whispered.

Harry pressed his lips together. Gryffindor were only at 10-0. The Hufflepuffs were still on their game. Both teams were nearly matched and the snitch was out of sight. If this continued, it would ensure that ninety five percent of the castle's population would be out here for hours. But they had to do it fast.

"Alright. Let's go. Cover for me, 'Mione."

"Of course." She mumbled. "Good luck."

* * *

 _Hogwarts, 6:30 p.m._

Hufflepuffs won 240 to 230.

It was close that Ron didn't get badgered about it, but DJ was sure that it still laid resentment in his head. The Gryffindors trudged back to the castle, half heartedly bidding their celebrating Hufflepuff friends who were clearly plotting to borrow half of the castle's dinner for a gala in their common room.

Luna handed over the list of people she and Colin were able to collect. "See you at dinner?"

"If there's anything left." He joked.

Luna's eyes popped out as though he'd said something lewd. Before he could apologize, she burst into such robust laughter that some passing students stared at her.

She clutched her middle and bent forwards still cackling and DJ wondered who'd increased the castle's temperature suddenly. It must be Ginny, she was prone to antics like that.

"Oh, DJ! You're even funnier than Ron!" Luna cried, actually wiping tears from her eyes. Her nose crinkled, the corners of her lips had small wrinkles and DJ realized he was holding his breath for too long.

He exhaled heavily and stammered. "Uh uh uh, thanks! Yeah, I am… funny. I'm hilarious! I can make jokes! Um, you've heard of the coffee that fought off dementors? It's called Espresso Patronum!"

Luna watched him like she was still waiting for the punch line. DJ felt his heart fall right through the floor.

"Is that…"

"Yeah, that's it. That's the joke."

"I didn't understand."

"So I gather."

The pieces of parchment were nearly scrunched up in his hand. He lightened the grip and cleared his throat. "Espresso is a caffeinated drink. It's a kind of coffee that muggles have."

"Oh! I get it. It is very funny."

"Great!"

Not great. Luna looked like she was saying it only for his benefit. DJ wanted to sink through the floor and retrieve his poor heart.

She grinned at him again. "I'll see you later?"

"Right." He could not get out of there fast enough. DJ headed for the Gryffindor tower, wishing he could just go back to the time when he had the capability to converse with Luna like a normal person rather than a trying-too-hard-buffoon.

He made his way right through to the fifth year dorm. Dean and Seamus were being coached by Ron, Harry and Neville about the meeting tomorrow. They looked a little stumped at the secretive atmosphere.

"I got all the names." DJ announced.

"Perfect. How many in total?" Harry asked, standing up.

"35. Yeah, the count ran more than we expected."

"Thirty five sounds too much." Neville said, sitting next to Seamus.

"It does. Not to mention, none of you are saying anything about what this is about!" Dean protested. "Harry, are you plotting something again?"

"Plotting? Dean, you really think I cook up evil plans to take over the world?"

DJ snorted. Harry was great with puns, slipping them in and never emphasizing on it.

"That's not what I meant."

Ron snatched the lists from DJ. "Unbelieveble! Malfoy's on the list!"

"Daphne spoke to him. He wanted to hear you. Zabini's okay, I guess. And Tracey's Daphne's dorm mate. Luna did say –"

"Tracey's fine. I don't want Malfoy there."

"He's changed." Harry added.

"You believe that?" Ron folded his arms and Harry knocked his head against a bed post. Seamus waved an arm.

"Are ya gonna come out?"

It took DJ a second to understand, but Harry already responded. "Percy's not my boyfriend. I'm not gay, racist or homophobic. And don't place gay with racism and homophobia. It should go without saying. "

Seamus looked disappointed. "Oh. No, that's good that you're not racist or homophobic –"

"Really good." Dean added.

"But you're sure you're not gay? Not even a little bit?"

Harry didn't say anything to him but instead turned to DJ and asked, "Don't people have their own lives to worry about?"

"Blimey, ya don't have to be all sour –"

"Seamus, me being gay or not is nobody's concern. You've asked out of curiosity and I've answered. Don't ask again!"

"Alright, fine! I'm sorry! It's just…"

Harry stood straight and Seamus backed down immediately, "No, listen! Whatever thing you've called all these thirty five people for tomorrow won't matter because every single one of them will have the same questions."

DJ glared. "It's all Skeeter's fault."

"They'll get the same answer I gave you now. We have other problems."

Dean looked alarmed. "Harry… is it about you-know-who?"

Seamus fell quiet at that. They looked at him and Harry's annoyance slipped from his expression.

"Not exactly. Actually, not at all. It's got more to do with Percy."

"He's not human, that's it right? Is he a vampire? Werewolf?" Dean leaned forwards, eyes gleaming in excitement.

"Banshee?" Seamus asked in horror. Dean rolled his eyes.

"No, no, no." Harry answered and Ron stepped in. "Wait, what makes you think Percy's not human?"

"Well, that's the other thing Skeeter wrote in her article. And yes, Harry! We know her words are bogus, but there were some things that she pointed out… well, Percy apparently has some affinity to nature magic. Like an Elemental. But when he was there during the Triwizard tournament last year, he wasn't listed as a wizard or External Dignitary. The papers printed lots of assumptions and … well, I blame the rumours."

"What a coincidence." Harry sneered. "I blame rumours too."

"What I'm asking is... are you going to tell us what Percy is?"

DJ stared. It seemed like Dean had made a leap in figuring out what the meeting would be, but it was so accurate that it stung. Neville froze, Ron and Harry gawked and even Seamus looked stunned.

"Okay…" Seamus muttered. "Not with what I was leading with…"

"That's pretty close, Dean. Yes, I am going to tell you what Percy is." Harry's tone was even and slightly wary.

Dean understood the magnitude of the situation and nodded slowly. "Tell me you have an ace up your sleeve. Revealing a species secret never goes well, especially with humans."

That made Harry smile. DJ exhaled. Okay, if his cousin was optimistic, the plan would work. Thirty plus people would sit in front of them tomorrow and learn that Percy Jackson was demigod.

* * *

 _Manhattan, Wed, Oct. 24,  
Dynasty Apartment – 12:00 p.m._

Rachel's presentation didn't go too smoothly. She stammered her way through explaining the fictional town of Maycomb and racism in Southern states. It was, in part, due to the empty seat by the window.

It was also because of her stage fright. One of the good things about being home-schooled was that she didn't have to face twenty snickering students as she stumbled her way through a lecture.

She skipped the rest of school after that, heading straight home to clear her head. Bolt hadn't been seen for a few days since her talk with her mother about Greek Gods. That had been another smart decision, nearly inciting the gods to a rage.

She needed to vent. She needed to be on her own. Rachel headed straight for her closet and pulled out the first swimsuit she saw. It had been a while since she'd last swum. There was a good chance it wouldn't fit her, but she tried it on and found it acceptable. She braided her hair tightly and swivelled it into a bun. She needed to put on a cap because unlike Hollywood, if her hair encountered chlorinated water, it would remain stiff, _poofed_ up and tangled for the rest of her natural life. It was already starting to frizz in humid air. She wasn't risking it.

The pool was smaller than the standard Olympic size. The shallow side was four feet with the deep end reaching up to nine. Rachel ignored the diving board and switched on the lights underwater. The yellow glow glinted off the blue tiles giving a sea blue effect to the small waves that she made with her big toe.

Rachel adjusted her cap and put on the goggles, pressed them tightly into the skin. She could feel the suction over her eyes. It wasn't good but she was not risking a drop of water into her cornea. They always turned too red with pool water.

She took deep breaths, walking towards the wall. Then with a running leap, she curled herself into a ball and fell heavily into the deep end with no grace.

* * *

 _Scotland, Wednesday Oct. 24,  
Hogwarts – 5:00 p.m._

There were exactly thirty five of them sitting in the room. 420 was meant to be one of the duelling rooms that Abitu wanted to put in use. It was large enough to comfortably seat fifty kids or hold two substantial matches simultaneously.

Thirty four of those students were staring at Hermione. She was standing in front of them, pink faced by all the attention. It took her a few seconds to begin talking.

"Hello." She said first. A few people nodded. Luna waved. Lee yelled out, "Ello!"

Some laughed. Hermione cleared her throat before speaking with renewed confidence. "You've spoken to some of us this week about this get together. And we'd like to tell you about the reason for it. It concerns Percy Jackson. You'll remember him from last year, I suppose…"

Many confirmed and she continued. "Yes, good. And you will have heard the rumours as well. So Harry is here to answer some of your questions to stop any false information from spreading."

She hurried back to her seat, pinching Harry on the arm when he was too slow to stand.

"Yes, thank you, Hermione. Right we'll just start with the most important concern. Percy is a friend."

When Harry had discussed the introduction with Hermione and Ron, she'd urged him to not use the words 'threat' or 'outsider' or 'non-human'.

Harry waited for the whisperings to die down. Cho raised her hand.

"Yes, Cho?"

"I hope you know that there's more than one rumour about Percy. I'd like you to address them all."

She raised her eyebrows and conveyed the importance of the request. Harry sighed internally.

"Fine. Percy's not my boyfriend. He's not a mermaid. He's an ally."

Another hand went up. It was Dean. "The mermaid thing was never that popular. But is it true he can control water?"

"Yes."

"Like Ron?"

"How does that work? I thought people can't share Cores."

"He's probably related to the Weasleys."

"Are you blind? Of course he isn't!"

"Don't be racist, ever heard of marriage?"

"Guys – " Harry said but Anthony Goldstein spoke up. "It's possible for people to have similar Core magic. They express it in different ways. And of course he isn't a mermaid, he's a guy!"

"A guy can be a mermaid!"

"That's a merman!"

Ginny banged a fist on her desk and yelled, "Quiet you lot! Seriously, this is why we called you guys. These baseless discussions infected the rest of the society which is why we have gits like Skeeter printing all kinds of nonsense without consequence because no one really knows the truth!"

"Alright, settle down." Harry shouted, glaring at them. "Ginny, thanks. She's right. Everyone listen up. Tell me everything you've heard about Percy and I'll confirm or deny them. Zabini, go."

Blaise Zabini who, to Harry's knowledge, never really spoke much in class, said, "Is Jackson human?"

The room went quiet. Harry exhaled. "Not entirely."

"Bugger, I knew it! He's a vampire!"

"Shut up, Nigel!" Dennis, Colin's brother hissed, seemingly terrified of the rest of the room since everyone else was older than them.

"He's not a vampire." Harry said, half exasperated and half irritated.

"Werewolf?" Justin Finch-Fletchley asked, partially joking, but he quickly fell quiet when Harry glared at him.

"Percy's not something you've heard before. I called you here because if this got out, there'd be panic. Is anyone orthodox religious in this room?"

Nearly all heads turned towards Anthony. He looked miffed. "I'm not orthodox... I believe in magic and I'm sure everyone here does too. Go on, Harry, hit us with your best shot."

"I really wish I could. It's still a really different ...concept for a lot of you. How many of you have talked to Percy?"

About fifteen hands rose.

"Alright, did anyone feel afraid of him or worried at some point?" Ease them into it. Slow and steady.

"No. But that's because he didn't know the back end of a niffler from the front." Malfoy muttered.

"I doubt you knew that before he saw one for the first time." Lee snapped. "You here to help, or not?"

"I'm here to find out what Percy Jackson is. He's not human, he's not harmless." Malfoy stood up and looked across the room at Harry. "He has a sword. It makes me wonder, what kind of a wizard has a sword."

Harry held the urge to lash back. Of course, Malfoy would know. His father was a death eater. But they invited him and Zabini to the meeting with Daphne's insistence. Harry looked towards her. Her eyes sharpened.

"Draco, you promised. " She said quietly. She didn't have to raise her voice for him to consider. He huffed and sat back down, folding his arms and waiting.

The only one of Ginny's dorm mates who was invited, Hira Reynolds, spoke. "Some wizards have staffs as well as wands. It's not uncommon for magic wielders to use various weapons in a duel."

"You don't need magic to use a sword." Zabini scoffed.

"What if it's a magic sword?" Hira disputed.

"It is." Harry added. "It's made out of Celestial Bronze, tempered in Mount Etna and cooled in the river Lethe."

Hermione gave a loud exhale in the silence of the room.

Malfoy frowned. "What?"

"It was owned by Hercules before Percy got it." Harry continued. No turning back now. "His father gave it to him. He trained with it, is the best swordsman known, and knows how to kill Ancient Greek monsters to survive in the muggle world."

* * *

Rachel swam a few lengths, before readjusting the goggles again. She should have adjusted the straps. Nothing felt like it was going right. She couldn't get Percy to listen to her, she didn't want to tell anyone else about the charm either. Her trashy performance at school was sub par to her regular standards and it grated on her nerves.

Puffing up her cheeks with added air, she swam to the bottom and tried to sit there to feel the buoyancy push her back up. It was a fun game she'd do to pass the time.

She counted the seconds. Thirty…forty… a minute passed. She was still underwater. The water was still moving in strong motions around her even though she hadn't moved an inch.

Rachel opened her eyes.

There was a cow in front of her.

A jet of bubbles burst from her mouth and Rachel screamed, moving away from the cow and pushing herself towards the surface. She spat out water and moved towards the edge of the pool as the cow's head broke the surface as well, still staring at her silently.

Rachel shrieked out a curse, clutching the side and then freezing when she realized that the surroundings had changed.

She was…in a pool… but not hers. The room was colossal. The pool was in one corner of it. The main area was taken up by several towering thrones that curved in assembly towards the tall double doors that was large enough to allow thirty foot tall beings. The hall was enormously decorated, intricate carvings over the walls and designs on the thrones as well. Rachel froze on her spot, seated at the edge of the pool, one leg in the other out.

She'd never been here before. But she knew where she was. It was the throne room of Mount Olympus, where the gods would sit if they had a council.

But there was nobody now, save for her and the strange cow.

The cow mooed, swimming towards her and Rachel noticed the long slithering tail that was… yes, it was a snake.

"Shoo!" She yelled, splashing it with water. "Go away! No, I said, go away!"

The cow stopped a few feet from her and gazed sadly. She almost felt bad. Then, as one would have a dream, new sights, sounds and perceptions came to her slowly. The more she looked around, the more she saw of the white and gold ornamentation all around the throne room. It was magnificent, flamboyant, yet elegant and perfect for the gods. The designer must have spent years at it. Or centuries even.

The cow gave a sad moo, shifting its gaze from her to something behind her. Rachel turned around and did a double take at the sight of three decrepit, old women seated at a bench like in a park, knitting with soccer ball sized balls of yarn.

The first knitted with long and large needles. The second held the balls of yarn and the third had an enormous golden pair of scissors on her lap. The women were so old their wrinkles, moles and skin lesions were high definition the more she stared at them.

The cow made a small whining sound and disappeared in the water. Rachel swallowed. There was something about the silent women…

The first woman looked up, not stopping her work. Rachel stifled a scream. Her eyes were glowing, black and complete with the knowledge of everything in the universe. The shimmering was like a nights sky filled with a thousand galaxies all shining at once right into her sight. Rachel cringed but the woman spoke and that frightened her even more.

 _Rachel Elizabeth Dare._

Her lips barely moved but the words echoed all around the grand hall, reverberating badly and crashing against her ears. Rachel clapped her hands over the sides of her head. It wasn't even a proper voice. It was layered with the weight of knowing everything there was to know.

 _Have you chosen yet?_

They were asking her a question. Shit, answer them. Answer them!

"N…no." Rachel knew not to lie. She knew they were of a different league. Whatever goddesses these were, they were different from the regular.

 _Spoilt for choice_ , the second woman said. It almost sounded jesting.

"No. I have to tell Percy. I have to tell him that … the Titan lord…"

 _Prophecies… are tricky._ The second woman rasped. Her voice made Rachel shudder with a cold that had nothing to do with climbing out of a pool, still dripping on the floor.

The first woman tilted her head by the slightest degree, gaining all of Rachel's attention.

 _A half-blood of the eldest gods  
Shall reach sixteen against all odds  
And see the world in endless sleep  
The hero's soul cursed blade shall reap  
A single choice shall end his days  
Olympus to preserve or raze._

Rachel was already shaking her head before the woman finished speaking.

"I'm not a half blood. I'm not a demigod. I'm not even a witch!"

 _You have your choices. Just like the one the Oracle searches for_ , the second woman spoke up. _But what use are choices when you cannot choose?_

* * *

Harry almost enjoyed the slack jawed looks. He shared a grin with DJ... well, DJ looked too worried to exchange anything like a smile.

"Who's Hercules?" Nigel asked, wide eyed.

"What d'you mean by Ancient Greek monsters?" Terry Boot yelped.

"Swordsmen? There's are real magic wielding swordsmen?" Dae Iseul, Astoria's friend, asked shocked. They spoke at the same time and some others also started to ask different things.

"Did you say river Lethe? And Mount Edna?"

"Etna."

"Yeah, that. It's familiar, I've heard of them somewhere, I think." Seamus muttered, looking at Dean for help, who shrugged.

"What did you mean when you say he kills monsters with a sword?" Anthony stood up. "You mean, he _kills_ ...he kills monsters? What does... why, who...how does... what?"

"Yes, Anthony, he kills monsters. And I mean Hercules by the Greek Hero, Hercules who finished the twelve tasks, at least some of you should know about that."

"We all know about that!" Malfoy snapped. "What the hell does Hercules have to do with your friend? That was thousands of years ago!"

"Well... the thing is... gods are immortal so they can exist for thousands of years..."

Harry knew he sounded less than confident. But his ace wasn't here yet and it was starting to worry him.

"Whoa, whoa! Where the bloody hell did that come from? We're talking about Jackson not being human, not about gods!" Justin panicked.

George raised his hand and Harry tiredly looked at him. "I don't think this is going as well as planned."

"Harry?" Padma called. She had a frown on her face as though she'd hit a snag in an advanced arithmancy theorem. "I recall hearing about Percy's registration with the Ministry to attend the tournament. He was listed under _half-blood_. Did you give the Ministry purposefully wrong information to hide his real identity?"

"Yes and no. Percy is a half blood, just not the kind of half blood we understand." Harry thought he could lead with this topic. "For us, blood status means magic counted through the previous generations. For Percy and his folks, it's a little different. Blood for them means their humanity. They're half human, that's why they're all half bloods."

Dave Timur, DJ's dorm mate coughed. "You mean, there's more than one? More than... just Percy?"

"There's a society of them, smaller than ours. They live in America. They have their own culture, it's beautiful."

Lavender shook her head, looking dismayed. "And why did you talk about the gods?"

Harry bit the inside of his cheek, looked towards Ron and Hermione and cleared his throat. "Because half-blood is another term for demigod. Percy's father is a Greek god of the sea. That's how he controls water. I've met most of them over the summer. There are children of the Olympian gods and goddesses and children of several other deities, all living in a close knit community. They have the most beautiful strawberry farm with the best tasting pips that ever existed, take my word for it."

The silence now felt dangerous. People were staring at him in shock, in denial and in ... defiance.

"No." Malfoy said. That one word upset the entire room.

"That's not possible. Children of _gods_ –"

"Seriously, Harry! I expected more from you!"

"What the hell?!"

"You need to get some sleep, Potter."

"Demi-gods?"

"Couldn't you have come up with a more believable lie?"

"I'm out."

Justin got up and made his way to the door. Harry ran and cut him off, standing in front of the entrance.

"You need to listen –"

"You need to get out of my way. You wanted to clear some stupid rumour about you and Percy snogging by building up all this? Nobody cares that you're gay, you don't have to lie to all of us like this!"

" _I'm not gay!_ " Harry yelled. "And Percy's a demigod! His friends are the same. I'm not making this up! I met him when I was two years old, I know Percy. I've known him for years. I've seen him do all sorts of things that are impossible for a human, even a wizard. I thought he might have been one but no, as it turns out he's not! He's a demigod son of Poseidon and they're all in trouble because _the Titans are rising up, threatening to overthrow the gods to take over the world!_ "

Justin's jaw dropped at that.

Daphne stood up. "Titans? This is an information overload, Harry."

"It's true, though." Ron spoke. "We met Percy last summer and his friend, Annabeth. They came with us to watch the World Cup Finals. They were new to our world and we're new to theirs."

"World?" Alex asked and everyone turned to look at her. Alex Sykes was the Head Girl. She and Marcus Turner, Head Boy, hadn't spoken till now. They sat near the window, watching the scene in front of them. "Potter, if you swear that it's the truth, I'll believe you."

Harry sidestepped Justin and faced Alex and Marcus. "I swear on my magic that what I've told you is the truth."

The murmuring in the room dipped for a moment.

Marcus leaned and whispered something to Alex. Anthony, Terry, Padma and Daphne were also muttering something. Malfoy frowned and looked towards Zabini who exchanged a glance. Some of the younger students also looked wary. But nobody made any move to leave.

"That's good enough for me." Dennis called out. His shy voice sounded strong and it turned everyone's attention to him.

"That's not it, Dennis." Marcus said. He was tall for a seventeen year old, with broad shoulders and a buzz cut to match Alex's. He tapped his fingers on the desk. "Are they safe?"

"They're my friends." Harry declared. "Percy's been my friend for thirteen years. I'd never doubt him."

Alex pressed her lips together. "Why are you telling us this? Why not... the Ministry... or even Dumbledore?"

"For the same reason, all this is a secret. I don't want Voldemort finding out. The Ministry's up to the hilt with dealing with Death Eater problems, the castle's facing enquiries about its safety. I don't want to add a host of what they'll perceive as problems. The truth is that the demigods are as new to us and we are to them. We're just two societies existing here. Percy and I met under non magical circumstances. We had no idea what we were. We realised what the other was the summer before last. He's been here and seen all of you, I've been there, seen all of them. We've interacted, bunked together, and have been put in stressful situations like the third task. I trust him and he needs my help. That's why we're having this meeting."

Harry took a deep breath. Alex and Marcus didn't show if they were impressed. Honestly, Harry was surprised that he was able to articulate it that well. He didn't stutter once.

"That's a nice speech and all..." Zabini drawled. "But why does Jackson need your help and why have you told us all this?"

Harry raised his eyebrows. "Remember the Titans I was talking about...? Yeah, the demigods are facing a major war before next summer. They think that the Titans might want some witches and wizards on their side to help."

He placed his hands on his hips. This explanation sounded too simple after his dramatic speech.

"I have a few problems with this, Harry." Padma said. She was pressing her temples, massaging them with her fingers. "You're talking about gods and titans. These... deities that are bigger and more _eternal_ than what we can even fathom... we, as a community, are already scrambling under Voldemort's terror and you want us to what... oppose ... the immortals? That's the idea?"

Hermione answered this, thankfully. "The idea is that we're not supposed to be a part of their war, no matter the side. That's the real goal. We need to stay away from that world, at least until the next summer."

"So, that's not a problem!" Lee encouraged. "Just stay away."

"And they're interested in meeting us." Hermione added.

"Oh."

"Only those of you who're interested. We have a kind of plan to set up a safe place where some of us and some of them can be in the same room. You can write up all the questions you want and they'll answer everything that they can."

"Too sketchy." Astoria commented. "We know nothing about them."

"Yes, that's the point. This meeting is to ensure that we all walk away knowing what we need to know. It's not compulsory for everyone. A dozen of us, maybe fifteen, who choose to meet them, and a dozen of them." Harry said.

"And how safe will we be?"

"You'll be meeting them in my house." Harry announced and that perked up everyone interest.

"Your house? The place where you live? That house?"

"Yes, Anthony, that house." Harry grinned when he suddenly looked excited.

Malfoy raised his hand. That was a first. "This is all being arranged without anyone else's knowledge. Your godfather doesn't know about this, does he?"

"He does not. This gathering is secret. We brought you here, because you can keep a secret. Which means, you can't tell anyone who's not here, even if that includes your dorm mates, your friends, your siblings and relatives. Please, don't write letters to your families or correspondents, either, because it'll just blow up at the wrong time. Everyone one of you was called here by someone who trusts you. I'm not saying that it's going to stay a secret forever, that's impossible. But I want this under the wraps for as long as possible.

"And in the mean time, if you want, you can find out more about them, you can meet them, talk to them, have conversations and find out what's important and what's not. Who's interested?"

At least ten of the invited slowly volunteered. Harry sighed in relief. "Alright, you can give your names to DJ, please. Anyone who wants out of this meeting, altogether?"

To his surprise, nobody chose to leave. Even Justin had walked back to sit beside Susan and Terry. He gave an embarrassed smile to Harry.

DJ stood up and faced them. "I'll make another list of all the questions you want to ask them. If there's anyone who isn't interested in the main meeting...er, the one with the demigods, you can give me your questions. And if anyone has any suggestions to what name you want to give to that meeting, we're all ears."

Terry waved his hand. "Just a thing. Is Percy's father... Poseidon?"

Harry smiled. "A hundred and fifty points, Boot."

"And the names..." Neville muttered.

"Oh right. The immortals have incredibly sensitive hearing towards their names. Please do not call them by name. Not the gods, not the monsters, not the magical objects. Names have power." Harry looked around and caught Alex's eye. "Yeah?"

"Explain about the monsters."

It went rather well. Aside from the crippling lack of a phoenix that was supposed to arrive and placate them if anything went too awry. Fawkes was meant to render the idea fail-safe. And he'd promised to show up. The fact that he hadn't... something must have come up.

It was barely a half hour show. It felt more compact and solid than that. After receiving everyone's assurance to not speak about it (Harry may have said something about the wrath of the gods) only a few of them were left.

"That wasn't so bad." Colin cheered. "So... we're meeting again to discuss when to see the demigods?"

"Colin, don't say demigods out loud. At least, not when you're out in the castle." Ginny nudged him.

"I think we can individually tell the people when to meet up. Honestly, I think the people who signed up for the main meeting just want to see your house, Harry." Hermione sighed. "Still, it was a good response number. You handled it well."

"I'm worried about Fawkes, though. He wouldn't bail out just like that. There's a reason he wasn't here." Harry sat on one of the desks.

"I'll go check up on the Headmaster." DJ chirped. He followed Ginny and Colin out the door. "See you later."

"Bye." Harry leaned against the wall, and closed his eyes, listening to Ron and Hermione debate on the questions that had been taken down. It was a long list. Harry inhaled, still feeling off.

* * *

"I have only two choices. And I don't want to be part of the Titan lord's army. I don't want the charm." Rachel struggled with her words. She was trying not to look at them directly, but every time she looked away, their power compelled her to face them head on.

 _Why?_

She stared. "What…what d'you mean… I won't go against the gods!"

All three women looked at her now. Rachel swallowed, unable to dislodge a lump in her throat. They knew it wasn't the whole truth.

"I won't do that to Percy." She whispered, focusing on first woman's work. It was becoming clear now. She was knitting a blue scarf, large enough to cover an abominable snowman.

 _Your bracelet is with the one the Oracle seeks_ , the first woman said.

Rachel blinked. The thought of the scythe charm bracelet slipped from her mind. "There's another bracelet? For me?"

 _You are free to choose, Rachel Elizabeth Dare_ , the second woman said, somehow incorporating a jeering tone to her immortal voice. _But… with broken rules…come consequences._

The third woman, who had not spoken yet, lifted the scissors with frail arms. The second woman placed the string between the blades and the first woman stopped knitting.

 _Time runs out._ The second woman whispered and the scissors snipped the string with a sound like a twang of a guitar string.

Rachel heard the sound of a failed musical note vibrating her ear drums so sharply that she cringed again and dove into the water to escape it. But the sound persisted. The cow with the snake's lower half swam away from her, disappearing from sight. Rachel tried to swim back up to the surface but was stuck in place.

She was running out of air.

* * *

Percy'd just finished the IM from camp, conveying them the message that Harry was talking to more than thirty witches and wizards for the prospective magical meeting. He stood up, alone in his room and found himself suddenly out of breath.

He frowned, forcing a gulp of air in but it wasn't enough. He grabbed at the desk, pulling the drawer open and searching for his inhaler.

* * *

Rachel looked through the goggles at the surface, so close but unreachable. Her lungs started to protest, pushing against her body but she clamped her jaw shut firmly. Her legs kicked, her hands swung and she screamed in her head when searing pain burst in her chest. Her nostrils flared and she struggled feeling the water turn cold, turn freezing, turn back into the frigid lake in Finland –

* * *

Harry exhaled and then couldn't suck in enough air. His entire chest screamed at the force he used.

Something was wrong. He opened his eyes and saw nothing. Hermione grabbed at his flailing arms yelling something but he couldn't hear her. It felt like the sounds were being muted out by some unknown power, forcing pressure into his lungs and ears. He couldn't breathe.

* * *

Black and violet spots danced around in his visions. Percy stumbled against the nightstand, falling to the floor. The door opened beside him and someone…Nico… rushed towards him. He was staying something. Percy couldn't hear. He couldn't see now. He couldn't breathe.

His brain was aching. It would burst. It would burst out of his skull and Percy was okay with that, if only he could get a little air into his lungs.

* * *

Rachel opened her mouth involuntarily and swallowed the water.

* * *

Percy felt beautiful, life granting water, even better than air, save his sanity and with some superhuman strength, pushed all his senses out wards and burst out of the pool –

Rachel gasped as she reached the surface, body not even in her full control, coughing out water –

Harry moved Ron out of the way, climbing away from the pool to fall on the floor and vomit up at least a pint of water –

* * *

The bracelet on his arm seemed to burn. Percy coughed, shaking his head as though he was drenched. But he wasn't. He blinked tiredly, chest and head still aching, and looked up.

Nico was standing there, frozen, with a jug of water from the kitchen. It was full to the brim.

* * *

Ron and Hermione gaped at the stone floor that was now drenched. Harry coughed, moving away and leaning against the wall, breathing harshly. He couldn't even look at them. His bracelet made his skin itch.

* * *

Bolt came from nowhere and pulled Rachel away from the pool. Her tiger form was hot and drew Rachel like a little cub that needed the warmth yet couldn't escape what had happened. But whatever it had been, wasn't a choice. Rachel rubbed at a spot on her left forearm. It had been ten years, but she'd nearly drowned again.

* * *

 **Hee hee. Happy holidays, readers. Stay tuned for the next update next year, next month, next week…**

 **Q: How many sides does a coin have?**

 **Cabba.**


	33. Campers and Students

**A: A coin has three sides. Doesn't that make this story more interesting?  
Catie Cat: Yup, you got it. Rachel's definitely connected to Harry and Percy. It's not a twin thing, it's different. And yes, Tom's going to ruin some things.  
Sherlock Harry Winchester: Thanks! I hope you'll enjoy this too. The plot and drama is picking up. (Finally)  
SlythindorRen: Oh my gods, that means so much. I wish I had this chapter out sooner just to keep up to my schedule. Happy reading!**

 **This late update is brought to you by real life! Seriously, I got slammed with work and assignments. Thanks for holding on, here's your reward!**

 **Listening: Thnks fr th mmrs by Fall Out Boy**

* * *

 _Long Island, Friday Oct. 26,  
Camp Half Blood – 9:00 a.m._

Camp was excited for the meeting today and as Annabeth had dictated, only fifteen demigods would be going for it. Fifteen witches and wizards would meet them at the house and if Harry's plan went alright, nobody from the Order would barge in on them.

Nico arranged one of the boxes of medical supplies that Will wanted to bring along with them to Frost. He hoped nobody would need aid. A successful conference shouldn't result in injuries, but you could never be too careful as Will kept repeating every time he packed an extra bottle of nectar.

The rest of camp was busy with their own stuff. They'd be leaving within two hours, seeing as how Hogwarts students had classes till three. Nico was still confused on time zones so he had just nodded when Annabeth had lectured them all on it.

"Did I give you the cotton, Nico?" Will asked, running from the infirmary's storage. Nico shook his head and Will sighed.

"I used up a lot of it when Harley fell off the climbing wall. He's fine." Will added when Nico gawked.

"Did he touch the lava?!"

"No, but he got hit by a spray. It took me a while to get him to eat the ambrosia… no, he's fine. I can't find any more cotton, though."

Will collapsed on the chair beside the closest bed. Nico shrugged, watching as his ran a hand over his face. Will always did that when he was stressed.

"I think three boxes of supplies are enough. I mean, we're not expecting a duel or anything." He tried to calm the blonde down but Will shook his head.

"We're going to a place none of us have been before. All the way across the ocean, using a mode of transportation none of us have ever used before. There's gonna be fifteen of us in a room with fifteen people who have a different kind of power that we hadn't known before Harry. It's not too out of place to imagine a worst case scenario that includes the house exploding, so yes, Nico, I will pack medical supplies. And I need cotton!"

Nico watched as Will ran out of the Infirmary just as Kayla walked in. She looked annoyed as he rushed past her barely acknowledging her presence. She shook her head. Nico watched as she walked up to the boxes and held up a package in her hands to show him.

"I've got cotton here. I know we're running low."

Nico grinned. "Thanks. It goes here, I think."

"Right. And did you threaten Will or something? Why did he fly out like that?"

Nico looked at her, stunned. "I didn't threaten him!"

"Hmm. It was just a joke. When are you guys leaving?" She looked pretty detached and Nico wondered if it was because she hadn't been invited to the meeting.

"Before eleven. Sorry."

"What you sorry for?"

Nico cleared his throat and shuffled his feet. "N…nothing."

Kayla's eyes narrowed and she plopped on the chair like her brother had done not two minutes ago.

"You trust Harry, don't you?"

"Yeah."

"Have you met any of the other wizards?"

Nico fiddled with the lip of the box. "Sure. I know DJ, that's Harry's cousin. And their guardians, Sirius and Remus…"

"Serious?"

"That's his name." Nico said. Kayla huffed and looked up at the ceiling.

"They're all human, though."

"Not all of them… Remus is a werewolf."

Kayla looked at him, eyes wider than strawberries. " _Di immortales_!"

"And DJ's aunt… like, great aunt, she's a vampire. But they're both cool, it's okay." Nico said hurriedly, hoping Rosalie and Remus wouldn't mind. They'd told him it was okay, still, Nico wasn't sure. Kayla looked shocked and then suspicious.

"You know our werewolves are pretty… bad. And the vampires."

"Not all of them. Some don't hurt people."

Kayla chuckled. "Wizards and werewolves and vampires… what's next?"

"Witches." Nico supplied.

"Are they gendered? I thought wizards applied to everyone."

"No. Witches are girls and wizards are boys. And some wizards are warlocks and lords. Like demigods and demigoddesses."

Kayla raised an eyebrow. "I'm a girl, Nico. But I'm a demigod because my dad's a guy. Malcolm's a demigoddess but nobody says that. It's something like an insult."

"Why?"

Kayla shrugged. "People think it's insulting for guys to be referred through girls."

Nico frowned. "That's not nice. There's nothing wrong with girls."

Kayla laughed. "You're still young, kiddo. You'll change your tune, soon enough."

It didn't sound nice at all. Nico didn't like the half defeated expression she had on her face. Just then, Will barged in, red faced and stressed. "The cabin doesn't have cotton!"

"Seriously, bro?"

Nico left the Infirmary and caught the sight of several campers running about for last minute preparations. Annabeth and Malcolm were in the centre of the amphitheatre, shouting instructions to everyone. Percy sat on the steps, crossing things off a checklist as Clarisse recited the items they were taking with them.

Annabeth and Malcolm were demigoddesses because their mom was Athena, a goddess. But Percy and Clarisse were demigods because their dads were Poseidon and Ares, who were gods. Nico saw the imbalance. It wasn't weird to call Athena a god, but it felt odd referring to Ares or Poseidon as goddesses. It was almost laughable.

It was like everyone having male surnames. Nico couldn't recall if anyone had female last names.

"It's nice to see an adolescent boy thinking about this." A soft voice issued from behind him. Nico turned around and saw a young girl… well, she didn't seem younger than him… actually he couldn't tell her age at all. But he'd spoken her once before and knew who she was.

"Lady Hestia." Nico bowed to the figure who sat cross-legged beside the hearth, stoking it. Her eyes gave the slight glow, reflecting the embers in the fire pit. She smiled as he made the motion to sit down.

"Go ahead. You are happy, aren't you Nico di Angelo?"

Nico raised his shoulders in a half hearted gesture. Hestia looked sympathetic.

"Do people call you a god?" He asked, suddenly. "Does it make a difference?"

"Some do…" She tilted her head, looking up at the heavens as though everyone could hear their conversation. "It's easier to ignore it if you understand the politics behind it."

As usual, the work 'politics' made Nico want to groan. Hestia grinned.

"You make the effort to say 'wizards and witches'. That's quite thoughtful."

"Thank you." He mumbled. It was then he remembered something.

"Lady Hestia?"

"Yes."

"Will you guide us safe passage way through the floo?" Nico asked, wide-eyed. He searched through his pockets and brought out a pouch full of ambrosia.

Hestia leaned forwards. "You wouldn't happen to have any Mars bars, would you?"

"Sorry… I'll get you a chocolate frog next time. They're pretty good!"

She smiled and accepted the offering. "A safe passage to all who travel through the hearth in the Big House."

The ambrosia burned in the fire and the smell was so intoxicating, pancake batter and orange juice, that Nico leaned in and let the hot air hit his face. He clapped his hands on the heated skin, wincing.

Hestia was watching him. "Ambrosia is a strange thing. The food of the gods and goddesses… that which heals the demigods and demigoddesses, but remain poison to the witches and wizards."

She levelled a look at him and Nico felt himself sitting at attention. "Don't let the mortals touch the ambrosia or nectar. The meeting will not be as hopeful and the Titan Lord may win a batch of warriors."

Nico bowed and swallowed. "Okay. Thanks for the advice."

She smiled, this time showing her teeth. "Did you forget something?"

Nico stopped in the motion of getting up. "I...By your leave?"

Hestia's eyes glittered. "In your quest to make new relations, don't forget the ones you already have."

* * *

 _Gretna Green, Friday Oct. 26,  
Frost – 4:00 p.m._

Hermione, DJ and Ginny were in the kitchen, arranging the snacks and drinks. Harry was due to bring the rest of them any moment now and it felt like a disaster already. Percy had IMed to say that the campers would be running a few minutes late.

"DJ, just sit down and relax! I can smell you sweating!" Ginny scolded him.

Hermione sighed. "Gin, not now. And DJ, seriously. If you panic anymore, you'll start levitating everyone and that won't be good for anything, especially these lists of questions."

DJ groaned. "It's going to blow up in our faces! What were we thinking?! The Order's going to come home and see a crater here instead of the house."

"Oh for Morgana's sake!" Ginny drew out her wand and summoned the chair from the island. She pushed DJ into it and threatened. "Sit down or I will stun you!"

Hermione dropped her hands from the juice box that was now empty. "That's not very relaxing, Ginny."

"He's starting to freak me out! Bad things happen when I get freaked out, can we all agree on that?"

DJ placed his head in his hands. He couldn't help it. It had been a few tense days since Harry had invited some of their castle mates over. Fifteen teenagers with the potential to destroy stuff, yeah, that was the making of an army right there, the Titans knew their stuff.

He was so sure someone was going to blow the whistle and catch them all. But the Head Girl and Boy, Sykes and Turner, were incredibly curious and strict about the rules concerning today and had insisted on everyone complying or leaving quietly.

But what really worried everyone was that yesterday's Daily Prophet headlines were on a fault found in the wards surrounding the castle. The Aurors had found a rip through the shield, tiny enough to make a lot of people fret. The week had started out with people overseeing the Vervion protection, but ended with wild rumours that there was a Death Eater in the castle.

And while Dumbledore had issued statements that the safety of the castle was no compromised even with the tear, DJ knew better because Harry had told him. Something had been stolen from the Headmaster's office. A ring that had once belonged to Voldemort. They hadn't spoken about this to any of their friends, but DJ could imagine the widespread panic if it did get out.

And the worst thing was that they didn't even have time to deal with it. Today's meeting was vital. If the Wizarding world ever found out about the demigods, then there had to be a sizeable number of people willing to speak on their behalf, namely the growing generation of witches and wizards.

The hearth in the hall lit up, green flames that licked the sides and the top. DJ immediately stood up and followed Ginny who was the first to rush out of the kitchen. Hermione arranged the large conjured table in the dining room and tagged behind them.

"It's them!" Ginny exclaimed, with a sense of disbelief and worry.

The first person was a golden haired girl, taller than any of the fourth years. She stepped out of the hearth, holding hands with another girl right behind her with dark tresses. They walked onto the carpet spread out for the travellers. Even though they were covered in soot, they were gorgeous, so much so that all four of the kids stared, stupefied.

Annabeth shook the dirt out of her hair. "Hi, DJ. And Ginny, is it?"

Ginny opened her mouth and shut it. She'd met Annabeth before, during the Quidditch World Cup, but for some reason, she was still shocked.

"Hi!" Hermione said with more decorum than the others. "I'm Hermione. Hermione Granger. This...These are my friends Ginny and DJ. Hi."

"Hi." The second girl giggled. She was even more beautiful than Annabeth, even more than Rosalie, as well. Her summer tan brought a glow on her skin and the shape of her eyes that held deep blue irises went perfectly with the structure of her face and her hair –

Ginny elbowed DJ in the gut who then choked and stammered. "Hi! Hi, I'm... "

"DJ?" The girl asked, smirking. DJ felt like melting on the floor.

"I'm Silena Beauregard, daughter of Aphrodite. This is a lovely house!"

"Than – thank you!"

"Are you a Veela?" Ginny asked, very interested.

"What's that?"

The hearth spat out a single green spurt of flame and Annabeth blinked. "Oh, can one of you make a rainbow?"

Hermione stepped forward to help her Iris Message camp and let them know it worked. DJ stood back as the fireplace flared up again and more people began to come in. There was a tall, well built camper who Silena called 'Charlie' but asked the others to call him Beckendorf, a lean, fair haired boy named Will, a scary, muscled girl, Clarisse... and on until Percy stepped in with a boy, half leaning into his side.

DJ let out a shaky breath. This was it no turning back. He pulled out his two way mirror and called Harry. After another twenty minutes, there were thirty teenagers in Frost, divided into two groups, standing and staring at each other in awkward silence.

"So...?" One of the demigods began. "Are witches and wizards always covered in dust?"

Percy let out a sigh. "Thanks, Connor. Come on, everyone. We're supposed to finish this before two."

"Is that a euphemism?"

"Connor." Katie called him. "Travis may not be here, but that doesn't mean you're getting away scot free."

"Noted."

DJ looked around. Alex and Marcus took chairs beside each other. Then there was Daphne Greengrass, Susan Bones, Anthony Goldstein, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, DJ, Harry, Malfoy, Hannah Abbott, Cho Chang, Padma and Parvati Patil.

Almost opposite the table sat Thalia, Bianca, Annabeth, Percy, Nico, Beckendorf, Silena, Clarisse, Katie, Connor, Will, Clovis, Castor, Thea, and Lou Ellen.

DJ stared at Thea. She was a tiny kid, sitting on top of a cushion on her chair to look over the table properly. The meagre experience from his orphanage days told him, she might be about five or six years old. He wasn't sure why exactly anyone would have thought she would be beneficial –

"I love your braids." Padma whispered to Thea. The child covered her face and giggled so happily that the entire table relaxed.

Oh, so that's why.

Annabeth started to speak. "Alright. We've introduced ourselves but I think some of us can talk about what it means to be a demigod and a witch or wizard. Silena, would you like to go first?"

DJ suspected they'd rehearsed this because when Silena stood up she gave them all a dazzling smile that robbed everyone of their voices. "Hello all. Like I said, my mom's Aphrodite. She's pretty chill but of course, as is with all the immortals, she is a goddess and so there must be a constant acknowledgement of that status."

Many of the students still felt tongue tied so she continued. "The regular rules apply here. The gods are always listening and they are very proud of their well deserved regime and powers. You try making fun of them and it's not gonna end well. Just because we're not in the US, doesn't mean they still won't be able to reach here."

Daphne sat up and made to raise her arm. Silena nodded.

"Stop me if I'm rude. But why are the Greek gods in USA?"

DJ stayed quiet through most of the discussion. He didn't have a query and Hermione's list of questions submitted by the others came into a vital feature and the whole thing dissolved into something of a parliamentary treatise so much so that, people began to yawn and one of the campers, Clovis, actually nodded off.

But a select few stayed awake and alert the entire time. Percy sat up every time it looked like someone raised their voice above what was necessary. Harry hadn't moved an inch through the entire one and half hours, which was a testament because none of the demigods could sit still. Most of them kept fidgeting and looking about even as they answered questions relevant to their field. Even vigilant Annabeth kept shifting her curls as she contemplated and analysed everyone in the room.

DJ wished Luna was here. She'd have been able to read everyone's auras and determine if they were safe or not. It was something that she could do at odd times. Not to mention, she would have been able to liven up the meeting as well.

Thea was the next to fall asleep. That wasn't surprising. What could a six year old do without getting to leave one spot for a while?

Sykes and Turner were adamant about remaining critical. Malfoy had a frown the entire time and Cho still looked apprehensive but that was only because Clarisse had yet to smile at anyone. Unlike Silena, she seemed to have no socializing skills. She must have gotten along well with Harry.

Most of the others looked interested, just a little dulled. Soon, the questions were exhausted and the room was silent again.

"The Gods are more powerful than the Titans?" Anthony asked to sum it up.

"That's how the story goes. The king and queen Titans had children who were gods and goddesses with a different calibre of power. That's why the entire drama began." Thalia said. Her silver circlet glowed every time she spoke and it was nearly as enchanting as Silena's visage.

"And this second... Titanomachy. It's due to happen next year?" Hannah posed.

"Anytime before the end of summer, next year."

"Is it regarded with the Solstice?"

"The Summer solstice is at the beginning of summer, Parvati." Padma muttered, shaking her head.

"Then what's important at the end?"

"It's my birthday." Percy said, speaking up for the first time. He sounded so sombre, it was unlike himself. "By the time I turn sixteen, the war will begin."

Anthony blinked. "Oh."

Harry chuckled and everyone turned to stare at him.

"Sorry." He cleared his throat.

Alex Sykes frowned and turned towards Annabeth. "You said that their army might try to recruit some of us. How are we to avoid that? If they have immortal powers, I doubt mortal magic can sustain it."

"The Crooked One has been known to twist one's thoughts to his advantage." Annabeth placed both hands on the table, turning her sharp grey eyes towards them. "We wanted to give you as comprehensive a view of our world as is possible without it being seen from the wrong person's standpoint. For example, this summer, Harry gave me the book, Hogwarts: A History. It's pretty detailed and as objective a text as you can find."

"So you're saying, just believe your side?"

She looked a little taken aback. "Yes. Yes, we're the side that doesn't want a war."

"I'm just trying to make certain, Annabeth." DJ thought Alex was being too harsh. It wasn't a job interview, it was just an introduction to a world of gods and monsters. Which, on second thought, was more intricate and intense.

"I just want to know if we can successfully escape his reach without injury." Alex was determined to see this through. "I'm glad you've taken the time to coach us on this, but to what extent can our world live exclusive from yours. We're already here in the same room now, what guarantee do you have that it won't be as pleasant as this the next time?"

"But that's the point!" Bianca exclaimed. "That's why we're all here! We're telling you that some witch or wizard, student or not, could be influenced by the Titans. That's a problem for not just us, but for everyone who is close to that person."

"Yeah, alright." Marcus intervened. "But it's not like we have authority over the entire community."

"We have to start somewhere." Will added.

"But isn't this a little too late?" Susan asked. "You're going to war next year. Time's going to fly faster than we think, maybe if we were introduced to all of you before –"

"Trust me, you would not want to be near camp during the summer. We were attacked by half the army." Connor said.

DJ sat up. "Wait. This summer?"

"Yeah, it was brutal. It took a whole month to rebuild all the cabins, the arena and the Big House... didn't Harry tell you?"

DJ swivelled and glared at a stunned Harry. "No, he did not!"

Harry turned and found all the students staring at him. "Er..."

"You were in danger and you didn't tell us?" Hermione whispered. Even Ron looked pale and DJ suddenly couldn't think straight.

"It wasn't _that_ bad –"

"We lost six campers." Beckendorf intoned in his resonating voice which was a complement to Silena's.

DJ's jaw dropped. He saw Percy squeeze his eyes shut and Nico look guilty. They knew and they kept it from the him on purpose.

"Why didn't you tell me about this?" DJ demanded.

"I didn't want you to worry! The whole thing was over in minutes."

"Yeah, that's because Harry saved us." Will said, frowning.

DJ stood up in shock. "He sav – _you fought the Titans?!"_

"What? No! There were no Titans!"

"There were monsters – OOF!" Connor groaned as Katie punched him in the stomach.

DJ felt like he couldn't breathe. His hands shook, his face felt hot and there was a sick feeling in his gut like he was going to regurgitate all the fries.

The table shuddered.

"Shit!" Harry swore and grabbed DJ's arm. "Hey! Listen, I'm fine! I'm right here!"

DJ shut his eyes, really wishing Luna was with him. He tried to count slowly, tried to relax, but it wasn't easy. His head felt heavy and he groaned, raising his hands to touch his skull.

There were yelps and gasps from around he. He was doing something. He didn't know what.

"DJ!" A loud voice yelled and he snapped his eyes open.

Clovis was staring at him, deep brown eyes that had a misty appearance to them. The boy stood up, and looked over the hovering table. " _Sleep_."

All at once, the heaviness took over and DJ's eyes closed involuntarily.

* * *

Percy almost wasn't sure what to focus on when they started to float. Everyone's chairs rose and Clovis and Thea woke up immediately. The six year old toppled off but Castor caught her as he flew up above everyone.

Clarisse was lowest on the ground while Beckendorf was more focused on helping Silena and Will was struggling to get to his boxes of supplies as though medicine could get them all down.

Nico looked as though he'd given up on life. That expression shook Percy out of his reverie and he turned towards DJ who's face had gone red with frustration and anxiety. Ginny grabbed on his shoulder and just as it looked like everything in the house would be meeting the ceiling in a second, Clovis shook his head, called out DJ's name and put him to sleep.

The moment DJ's body went boneless and fell, everything else did as well.

Hermione shrieked something and before anyone could hit the ground, they bounced off an inch from the floor and landed, a little shaken.

Connor stood up first. "That...was ... _awesome_!"

Clarisse groaned. "Shut up, this is your fault!"

Thea burst into tears which startled the others. While a few tried to console her, Harry dragged DJ towards the misplaced couch.

"Break time!" Ron called out. He looked at the scattered fries on the floor and then said, "And maybe the twenty second rule."

"On it!"

"No, Connor!"

Ginny got up, looking shaken. She seemed to catch sight of something and said, "Thea! Look over there, you can see a phoenix!"

The crying stopped. Percy saw Fawkes fly in from the living room. His bright red plumage drew everyone's attention and as he settled on the table, Thea raised a hand and squealed. "Birthy!"

Her lisp was adorable enough that not even Fawkes look too affronted. He cleared his throat. Percy blanched. It was such a human gesture. It reminded him of when Bolt would roll her eyes.

"Could have been worse." Fawkes said. A few people shrieked and moved away.

"What the Hades?! It talks!"

"I'm not an _it_." Fawkes sniffed. "And please restrain your language, child. This is meant to be a diplomatic setting."

"Can you stop talking like that. It's creepy!" Ron complained. Anthony got up as well and dusted his shirt.

"Is there something wrong? Did the teachers find out?"

"Not yet. But the ward inspectors are planning to conduct a student count within half an hour. You need to go back as soon as possible."

Marcus sighed. "Alright. Thank you, Fawkes. We're nearly done anyway."

"Clovis!" Harry called. "Wake him up now."

Clovis yawned and everyone in the room suddenly felt drowsy. Percy clapped a hand over his mouth, eyes shutting. He leaned against the wall and heard a very loud voice in his head.

"I need you to go to Hogwarts now."

Percy jumped, yelling, "Gah!"

Everyone stared. Percy's heart was thudding so fast. Tom had appeared without a warning and was watching him carefully now. The locket which had remained quiet for nearly a week, was slowly warming up.

"Um... yeah. No, I mean... What's the time?"

"Nearly one." Castor said, frowning at him.

"What? It's evening now." Hannah said, looking around for a wall clock.

"Time zones. And can we decide if we need to meet again?" Parvati asked. "I don't know how successful this was."

"We answered all your questions." Thalia pointed out.

"Yeah, but... it was still dry. I feel like we're missing something."

"The rest of the people, you mean." Cho said, sighing. "A proper meet up would involve everyone on our list, meeting everyone from camp."

"But that's really difficult. How can we make sure everyone is heard? It wasn't too easy today with thirty of us, but we had a specific theme in mind." Susan spoke. She looked at Thalia. "I mean, it's not bad. I just think we can try something different next time. Something where everyone can just mingle about and talk to each other. That's what you really want, right? For us to get to know you and to not get involved in your war?"

"Susan, this isn't a Ministry Ball." Marcus said. "We can't just put some waltz music and talk like dignitaries."

Ron snorted, probably trying imagine that but Tom raised his eyebrows. "Why not?"

Percy looked at him. _What?_

"Why can't you throw a ball?"

"You mean a party?" Percy asked out loud.

"What?" Harry asked and Percy found them staring at him again. He really needed to stop talking to Tom aloud. It would be easier if Tom didn't speak to him in public.

"A party." Silena looked very interested. "That actually sounds good. We can all unwind and chat without worry."

"Chat?" Malfoy stared. "But we're not here to chat."

"A party would settle nerves." Alex frowning in contemplation. "It's interesting –"

"But too dangerous." Padma interceded. "What's the plan? Invite up to forty students and all of the camp to have a party?"

"Why not?" Ginny asked, looking so alive Percy thought her hair seemed to glow. "I mean, this place is big enough for all of us."

Percy looked around. She was right. Frost was large enough to house a major party that involved scores of teenagers. The living and dining room could probably hold at least forty kids with no problem. The space didn't include the wide kitchen and the foyer, balcony and stairs.

"Sirius would kill us." Nico said.

"Sirius would kill me." Harry corrected him. "I can't guarantee that this place would be free again."

"No problem." Connor grinned. "We have till next summer. Any time you're sure the house is empty, you can set up those wards and we can have a blast here."

"A party." Daphne said.

"A party!" Katie repeated.

"I'm in!"

"Yeah, sounds cool!"

"Okay, but we need to be careful –"

"We can set up a night vibe over there!"

"If your shift these sofas – "

"And the table – "

"The kitchen – "

"The lawn outside!"

"Some food!"

"A lot of food!"

"Par-thee!"

Percy stared dumbly at the witches, wizards, demigods and demigoddesses who were so excited that they were discussing between each other with less formality than before. Even Annabeth was grinning and Clarisse was shrugging and Harry was shaking his head, chuckling and DJ was stirring and –

"You're welcome." Tom said, leaning against the wall and impersonating an Abercrombie and Fitch model.

 _Why do you want to go to Hogwarts?_

"I need some hair."

* * *

They had a problem when the demigods flooed back. Harry was counting them as they stepped out of the fireplace in the Big House. Only twelve made it out.

Harry froze. "Where's Clovis and Will?"

"What?" Clarisse turned around and checked the soot covered crowd. The two boys were not to be seen.

"But they went in before us." Beckendorf said. "You said it was a single connection, how could they get lost?"

"It's a single in one direction." Harry said, spinning around to grab his mirror. "This hearth connects only to Frost. But the one at Frost connects to Percy's apartment and the fireplace in one of the teacher's office at the castle too."

Annabeth groaned. "Don't tell me they're at the castle!"

"Hold on a sec. Hermione!"

"Hermione's face appeared in the mirror. "We're all accounted for Harry. DJ's with Percy –"

"What about Will and Clovis?"

"Will...? There are no demigods here. But Percy and DJ are at the apartment now, could they have dropped there?"

"I'll check. See you in a bit."

"I'll come with you." Nico said. Harry agreed and they shadow travelled to the Jacksons' apartment.

DJ had woken up a few minutes after everyone had started to get excited about the prospect of a party. Harry had no idea how they could pull that off, but for now, the meeting had not been a failure. It got the people talking and there had been not many threats of cursing or decapitation, so it was a success.

Percy had offered to get DJ to the apartment where they still had some calming draught from the summer. The latter hadn't wanted to go to Madam Pomfrey's for a vial. She'd fuss over him and the whole castle would find out.

"It feels like I've forgotten something. Did we talk about everything at the meeting?" DJ was asking as Nico and Harry stepped out of the shadows.

"Are Will and Clovis here?" Harry asked looking around the small sitting room. The apartment looked just as cluttered as it was the last time he'd been there. The difference was that two other demigods were lounging on the couch. Will leaned against the arm, flashing a smile.

"Yo. It's a nice house, Percy."

"Thanks." Percy said, handing DJ the first aid kit. "He isn't waking up?"

Clovis gave a delightful snore. Nico sighed and walked over to the sleeping kid, poking him in the arm.

"Push him off the couch." Harry suggested. "What happened, though?"

Will knocked Clovis's foot. "He fell asleep just as we dropped the powder and shook the both of us out of balance. It wasn't an easy landing. He hit his head."

"May be he'll wake up if I make him float." DJ suggested, inhaling the vapour that arose from the pepper up potion. Harry sighed. At least, they were in one piece. He brought out his mirror and then remembered that Annabeth didn't have one.

"Perce, call Annabeth and tell her they're here, will you?"

"She'd have guessed, anyway." Percy said, but headed towards the bathroom. The mirror in Harry's hand vibrated and his name issued from it.

"Hi, Hermione. We found them here."

"Good." Hermione said, her voice loud. But she also sounded like she was in a hurry. "I sent most of the others away, but Ginny saw the Aurors heading towards the forest. They're going to start the spell in a few minutes. You better get back now."

"I'll get them to camp." Nico assured him. Harry nodded and handed the mirror to DJ, to join Percy with the IM.

And then, there was a series of insistent raps on the main door. DJ leaned out of the kitchen, surprised.

"Is that Sally?"

"No, she'd have a key –"

"PERCY JACKSON, OPEN THIS DOOR! NOW!"

The voice was shrill and furious. DJ's jaw dropped, Will blinked in surprise, Nico coughed, eyes wide, Percy stepped out of the bathroom, still holding a drachma and Clovis even blinked and woke up.

Harry swore.

"Is that Rachel?" Nico whispered.

"I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE!"

"Who's Rachel?" Hermione asked.

"How does she know I'm here?" Percy hissed, looking around in panic. Clovis yawned and made everyone else (again) copy him. Even Hermione did. This made Ron poke his head next to hers looking up at DJ with a frown.

"Seriously, who's yelling up a storm there?"

"PERSUES DYLAN JACKSON!"

Percy groaned. He marched up to the door and opened it with a flourish, glaring down at Rachel who was as red faced as anyone could imagine her to be. Her hair was an absolute mess, sticking up from the hastily done ponytail and there was a bit of green paint on her ear.

"First of all, only my mom calls me that, and second of all, what're you doing here?"

Rachel shoved past him and stopped short when she saw the others.

"Harry, why are you here?"

Harry didn't have an answer. He hadn't said anything about the meeting to her. It hadn't even occurred to him that she should be in the know.

"I think I know what we forgot." DJ whispered.

"Hold up the mirror, who's that?" Ron yelled.

"Cut the call, DJ." Harry told him urgently. "Rachel, we were just leaving, so I'll see you tomorrow –"

"The hell you will! Tell me what's going on! Percy missed school three days in a row! DJ! You too!"

DJ sneaked into the room, a picture of defeat. "Hi?"

Rachel's eyes bore a whole into each of their heads. Harry saw Clovis sit up, looking more awake than he probably ever have been in his entire life. It was curious how they were all stunned by her.

She held her soccer bag behind her and Harry wondered if she skipped practice just to drop by the Jacksons' apartment.

Percy grabbed her elbow and practically dragged her outside into the hallway. Harry followed, knowing this probably wouldn't end well if she refused to be placated.

"You can't just barge into my house –" Percy began but Rachel cut across him angrily. "I've been trying to talk to you for days! You keep avoiding me! I've had a supremely horrifying week!"

"Listen, you're definition of horrifying probably only extends up to a bad hair day. It's a little different for us." Harry had never heard Percy snap at anyone like that, except for maybe Gabe.

Rachel was dazed too. She fell silent, eyes growing wide as though she was looking at someone completely different. "That hurt."

"I'm sorry." He said, not sounding apologetic in the least. "But we're all a bit stressed here –"

"And you're too busy to talk to me, fine. That's fine. I don't care. I don't give a damn about you." Rachel switched to Harry now. "And you."

"Me." Harry muttered, sighing. "I'm sorry, Ra –"

"I don't believe you."

He stopped in his tracks. "What?"

"It just occurred to me why you wanted to talk to me every Saturday, in the first place." She sounded like she was about to start on a sarcastic and vitriolic line. This wasn't going to be nice for anyone.

"Your _therapist_ suggested it." She folded her arms. "You don't really want to get to know me, you just wanted to get out of the castle. But that's Harry Potter, folks. He gets what he wants, whenever he likes it. Screw it, I don't want to see either of your faces ever again!"

"Sounds like something a jealous ex-girlfriend would say." Percy muttered.

Rachel and Harry stared at him, speechless. Percy looked back, not even flinching. "You wanna know the truth, Rachel? Fine, here goes. You're not high on our list of priorities. We have titanic problems. It's actually life or death. I don't care about school, right now and I don't care about presentations or homework. I care about having a prophecy over my head which says I'll have a major hand in if Olympus is destroyed or not. So, that worries me a bit. So take the hint, and _stay_ _away_. We don't have time for your mortal chatter and worry. I don't have time to relax and play soccer with you, or even worse, watch you play soccer. I have better things to do with my life than to see how rosy your rich, white privileged life is. So, get out of my apartment!"

He could not have made it more hurtful if he had spat at her. Harry was so stunned he couldn't move. Rachel wasn't even breathing.

"Percy." DJ whispered, absolutely shocked. He was standing behind them, by the doorway, the mirror still in his hands. Harry spotted the silent faces of Hermione and Ron in it.

Rachel let out a puff of breath. And then she moved, bring her straining fist up to sock Percy in the face. But he caught her wrist and she made a sound of frustration, high pitched and volatile, like she was about to burst into tears.

She yanked her arm out of his grip and ran towards the lift. Harry stared dumbly, barely registering DJ rushing after her, yelling her name. But the doors closed behind her shaking shoulders and he stopped, breathing harshly.

"What the hell, Percy?!" He yelled and then took the stairs.

Percy exhaled, looking a little troubled. He caught Harry's eye. "I had to do it. You wanted her to be safe, right?"

Harry didn't say anything. Then, much quicker than his sister, he lashed out a clenched fist at him.

But Percy caught this too, swinging Harry's arm away from his face, using his momentum. Harry grunted as he was pushed against the wall, Percy right forearm resting against his throat in a position of warning.

There was a strange look in his eyes. Harry had never seen anything like such a regretful look.

"You'll thank me." Percy promised.

* * *

The scythe charm was in her bag. All she had to do was take it out and squeeze it. Her vision was blurred with burning tears and she sobbed, rubbing her face roughly.

Percy had never yelled at her before. She had never pictured him yelling at anyone like that. It had been sharp and awful, like he had slapped her or grabbed her. It occurred to her that her imaginary friend was probably different from the one in real life. He didn't even want to know her story.

He'd regret it. She could make him regret it. Kronos wouldn't scold her like she was a petty, spoiled child, would he? Of course he wouldn't. He knew what she was worth. Rachel was a queen. She wasn't anyone's inferior who could be lectured by someone she thought was her equal.

And Harry hadn't even defended her. He'd just stood there, staring at Percy like he had no power in situation. Fine. She didn't want to see them any time in this life. They could go and die in their wars and she wouldn't care.

" _Salaud_." She whispered, sniffing again.

"Rachel!"

She shook her head and started to walk faster. It was only a half an hour journey to her house. And she knew the route, having checked it out on Google maps several times before.

DJ caught up to her but she ignored him. He hadn't said anything against Percy, either.

"Rachel, please. Just listen! I don't know why Percy would say that, but it's not true! You're family, we wouldn't –"

"Family?!" She laughed and it was such an ugly sound. "Don't kid yourself, DJ. You didn't tell me you were in the city. And I don't even want to know. Bye."

"No, no! Listen!" DJ jogged ahead and stood in front of her. Rachel growled trying to move past him, but he stood straight, feet apart, ready to tackle her, it seemed.

She dropped her bag from her shoulders and swung it at him. DJ let out an "Ooof!" as it hit him heavily in the side. She didn't feel the least bit repentant.

"Ow, Rachel, wait!" he dropped something he'd been holding. It was two way mirror. They'd given one to her if she ever wanted to contact them. Guess it was going into the fireplace. She'd always wanted to burn mirrors.

It hadn't broken when it hit the pavement. She could see a few faces looking up at her. Bolt silently gave her the names but she didn't care.

"Move!" She smacked DJ again and tried to walk away, but he caught her bag and refused to let go.

"DJ, I will break your nose!"

"Rache – " He pleaded. "I'm sorry! I should have stopped Percy, but I couldn't believe it. I was in shock! I don't know why he was being so rude!"

"It's probably because he's really stressed and _busy_." Rachel marched towards him to stomp one of his feet. He jumped back but still held on to one of the bag's straps.

People were staring at them fight and argue on the sidewalk. Rachel didn't know what they made of it. She didn't care.

"He is stressed! But that's no excuse, look, I'll explain everything!"

"I don't want to know!"

"But you came here to talk to him!"

"Yeah, but since he's made it clear that I'm nothing more than a petty and spoiled, rich, white mortal, I obviously don't deserve anyone's time! So, I'll get out of everyone's hair!"

She yanked the bag with all her might and this time, DJ let go. He looked incredibly sad. She hated that look. She wanted to feel sorry, but it wasn't her fault.

"You don't mean that." DJ tried again. "Please, Rachel. We're really sorry. Harry and I'll explain whatever you want. We'll be here tomorrow and we'll spend the entire day –"

"Don't bother." Rachel felt the words scorch her throat. This hurt most out of everything that happened. "I don't want to see anyone of you. Don't come tomorrow or any Saturday, or any day for the next fifty years!"

She left him there and walked in a stiff stride, leaving her cousin there. She didn't need them. She had another choice anyway. She could be a queen, get her own superpowers and get a crown, a throne, whatever she wanted.

* * *

 **Here's to hoping I can get the next update up by next Sunday. Stay tuned, everyone! It's going to be a busy set of months for me, but I will finish this!**

 **Q: Something will make Rachel choose her final decision regarding the scythe charm. Will she pick the Titans or the heroes?**

 **Cabba.**


	34. Friends

**A: Rachel will make her choice after the party. (Yes, there's gonna be a party!)**

 **ShadeofDeath746: If you thought Harry would solve the problem between Rachel and Percy... oh, it's fun being a writer. Everyone's going through a douche phase. This story's all about relationships getting strained and twisted.**

 **Sherlock Harry Winchester: Tom is making things seem natural in Percy's mind. That's part of the problem. That will be addressed a bit in this chapter. An old character makes an appearance here!**

 **Catie Cat: You're right. Rachel will see Tom's proper form. It won't end well for her... :)**

 **Thanks so much, your appreciation and commentary helps me a lot! Here you go! Enjoy this update.**

 **NOTE: HEALER MANTIS'S THERAPY ADVICE IS NOT THE AUTHORIZED ADVICE OF A PSYCHOLOGIST OR THERAPIST IN REAL LIFE. I DO NOT HAVE THE CREDENTIALS TO GIVE PROFESSIONAL COUNSEL. THIS IS JUST A PART OF THE STORY.**

 **Warning: Racism, xenophobia, swearing, fighting.**

* * *

 _Hogwarts, Friday Oct 26  
7:00 p.m._

Hermione, Ron and Ginny were quiet when Harry and DJ flooed in. McGonagall's office was one of the only places where the hearth was connected to the system. Hermione immediately cleaned the rug and the fireplace, before turning towards the two boys and siphoning soot off their clothes and bodies.

DJ yanked his hand away from Harry's grip in the meantime. He was staring at the floor and Harry was trying to look away, praying for anything that would interrupt the mounting tension.

"So…" Ron said, trying to be casual. "Who's Rachel?"

Anything but that.

DJ looked up and Harry recognized that look. It was the same look he had when he told them about the demigods. It was the look that said, _Whatever, I don't care what's gonna happen after this, but I'm sick of it_.

"DJ, can I talk to you –"

"No, you cannot. Rachel is my cousin. Her birth name was Rosalie Potter. She's Harry's sis –"

Harry advanced to stop him, but DJ backed off, glaring at him. "She's Harry's sister and Harry's an absolute bastard, just so you know."

Hermione nearly dropped her wand. "W…what?!"

Ginny cursed in a low voice and Ron's jaw dropped. They were staring at Harry and Harry was staring at DJ and DJ was staring back at him. The office was suddenly cold and unwelcoming.

"I…have nothing to say about the bastard comment…but the rest of it is not true."

DJ went absolutely pale with anger. "Not true?"

"It's not true."

"It's not true?"

"It's not."

DJ stepped forwards. "Say that again."

"It's. Not. True." Harry repeated, trying to glare him down, but it wasn't working. He couldn't look at him and put enough power in his words.

"Again."

Harry hesitated. "It…is not true."

"Say it again."

Harry's voice died. DJ's eyes were wet, jaw clenched, body stiff. There was hate in there and as he took a step back, he started to cry. "You are a bastard. You're also a hypocrite. You complain about Granpa not giving enough information while you stand there, doing the same thing. We met her months ago and _none_ of our friends know. Either you don't trust them, or you just don't want anyone to find out that Rachel's a squib! Game over, Harry. You're a hypocrite, a bastard and not a good brother."

Harry almost couldn't see through the haze of disgrace. He was just trying to breathe properly when DJ left, trying to close his eyes against the burn, to force himself to swallow while cold sweat gathered on the back of his neck.

* * *

 _Manhattan, Friday Oct. 26,  
Jacksons' Apartment – 2:00 p.m._

Percy was staring at the open refrigerator, looking for food, and trying to ignore Tom's incessant demands to _go to Hogwarts and get some hair_ , when he heard the shadows let a small hissing sound as Nico stepped out.

"Nico, did you tell –"

A door slammed against the frame and Percy closed the fridge, heading towards his room when he found it locked.

"Nico!"

There was no sound from inside. Percy sighed heavily.

Tom rolled his eyes. "Let him sulk. Nobody's going to like you today, Percy. We need to go now, preferably."

 _If you could shut up for a minute, I'll decide._

Tom's gaze went sharp but Percy ignored the hot locket. He was getting used to the pain. Percy banged on the door and Nico yelled something in Italian. He wasn't sure what exactly it meant, but could understand the gist of it.

"Yes, swearing will get you places." Percy snapped. "Get out here, now!"

The door unlocked and swung open, revealing Nico's frigid glare. "What the hell's wrong with you?"

Percy glowered back. "We can't have her interfering."

"Inter - ! She knows! She knows about all this! All of us! Rachel's clear sighted, she has Bolt, she's connected whether you want to admit it or not. Yelling at her was the wrong thing to do!"

"She can't protect herself." Percy tried to lower his voice. It wasn't helping that Tom was still standing right there. "If something happened, because she knew too much –"

"You're wrong to scold her." Nico repeated. "I'm not saying that we need to include or exclude her, but she'd understand if we had explained it. Now she won't listen. All because you yelled at her like she was stealing something from us."

Percy closed his eyes. "Nico… I get it. You like her. And, I'll apologize, okay. But –"

"What?"

"I'll say sorry. I was really stressed, it's not an excuse, but that's the truth."

"No, not that…" Nico was no longer angry, but he had a confused frown. "You think I like Rachel? Like a crush?"

Percy shrugged. "I guessed… is that a no?"

"No. No! I don't! I… You…it, that's not it! Percy, you're an idiot!"

It felt like a hot blast of air hit him in the face. Silently, he wondered if this was how Rachel had felt before.

"What did you – "

"You think I – no! No, I don't like Rachel!" Nico was shouting. His face was flushed and he was staring at him with wide eyes, voice filled with disbelief. "I don't like her! At all! I was talking about her being your friend!"

"You don't have to call me that!" Percy swallowed. "Alright, fine. You don't like her! Don't overreact about it!"

Nico snapped his mouth shut, making fists of his hands. "You were out of line. Nobody yells at anyone like that, especially not to their friends. And you just lost one today. I hope you're happy about that."

Nico turned around and slammed the door again, this time in Percy's stunned face.

The house fell silent but hot blood roared in his ears, filling him with anger, shame and frustration. Percy dug into his pocket for his inhaler, exhaling as much as he could before taking a hit.

Tom leaned in. "Shall we go now?"

Percy shook the inhaler again. He wasn't an idiot. Nico was just upset. He never called people names –

Tom snapped his fingers in front of his face and Percy caught his arm in a reflex. "We're wasting time. If they're doing a mass shield inspection, I'd like for us to be there."

Percy threw his arm away. _Whose hair do you want?_

"Let's go and you can find out for yourself."

Percy went just to shut him up. And to get out of the house. He couldn't stand to be near Nico at the moment.

Tom's apparation was better this time. Though the dizziness persisted, Percy didn't feel like throwing up. Cold air hit him from all sides and he felt a hand grab him, pulling him behind a brick wall. Percy used his inhaler again when he felt a little breathless and panicked.

"Follow them." Tom demanded, looking behind Percy. The latter finally opened his eyes and saw that they were in an empty railway station. The sun had set and the skies were a deep purple, nearly black. Clouds scattered some of the moon light and the entire scene made it seem even colder. Percy pulled the edges of his hoodie together to zip them up.

Percy stood up properly to see who Tom was looking at. Against the backdrop of the castle which loomed over all of them, Percy could spot Dumbledore, McGonagall and two other teachers talking to three people by the gate. Percy recognized one of the strangers by the lime green bowler hat he wore.

"That's the Minister." Percy muttered.

"Yes. Systemic ward inspections generally demand the presence of the Minister or at least a senior official. It's a rare occasion. That ridiculous hat of his would have some strands. Let's have a little wind."

Suddenly, Hogsmeade station started to whistle with a burst of air that blew in from the side. Percy was about to shut his eyes, but Tom glared at him, warning him to stay vigilant.

One of the teachers had been holding a stack of loose parchments which blew away along with an official's gloves and Cornelius Fudge's hat. It was so sudden, everything disappeared into the beginning line of the Forbidden Forest behind them.

Percy ducked and ran over, hiding behind the cover of the trees. He leaped over the papers and found the hat, rolling on its side and slowing to a stop. With a lunge, he grabbed it and look inside, searching the edges till he found a few graying strands of hair.

"Got it!" Percy whispered, about to get up and leave when he raised his head and froze.

Fawkes clever eyes were looking right at him from his perch on a branch of the nearest tree. Percy couldn't even move under the gaze. Alarms started to ring out in his head. He couldn't be caught!

"Percy… what are you doing?" The phoenix asked in his soft voice. Percy was breathing so fast he wasn't even sure of the situation. The coldness clashed with the heat of his neck and the locket which flared to a blinding degree.

Through the trees, a jet of sizzling green light blew through, slamming into Fawkes so fast, nobody saw it coming. Percy gasped as he watched the phoenix burn, turning the light into angry orange light. The bird burst into flames and Fawkes cry was cut off as he hit the ground.

"Grab a paper!" Tom was calling from somewhere.

Percy moved slowly. He felt sick. He was about to throw up –

" _Paper!"_ Tom screamed and Percy moved his hands and found one of the parchments. He dropped the hat though he still had the hair with him. Tom placed a heavy hand on his shoulder and the world disappeared into a vortex as they were squeezed into a narrow place in space, falling into a pile of leaves somewhere in another country.

Percy turned and retched into the dry leaves. The locket was still burning him. He clawed at it, trying to remove the chain but Tom grabbed both his hands.

"Percy, wait! You're okay! Look, you're fine! Listen to me! We got away, they won't find you!" Tom was shaking him and Percy groaned, trying to push him away. He still felt sick.

"You killed him! Fawk –"

"Is a phoenix!" Tom explained urgently. His eyes were blue, trying to convey a message. "He'll regenerate in a few months! We need to leave again!"

Percy nearly cried when they apparated again and then another time, do the same thing they had to do to get away from Voldemort. Finally, they reached Central Park after travelling through half of Europe.

It was still noon in NYC and Percy cowered on the grass basking in the warm light. The section they was empty and Tom leaned against a tree, panting. Everything had happened so fast, Percy wasn't sure what really did happen.

"Hair." Tom muttered. Percy tried to lift one of his sweaty hands which held Fudge's hair. Tom took them and conjured up a vial for them. Percy felt dizzy again.

"Whatcha need de paper fo?"

"Nothing. Just to throw them off the scent. Come on, get back to the house."

"I'll just lie here…"

"No, Percy. Don't –"

But Percy closed his eyes and fell asleep.

 _It had been a while since he had a demigod dream. He was underwater in the ocean. Sunlight barely reached where he was but the surroundings were clear enough for him to see pale white columns like marble, some of them broken and in rubble. He looked past them and found an immense castle that materialized itself for him to see. It was a beautiful and grand thing, with towering buildings, colossal towers and walls decorated with barnacles if barnacles could ever be a decoration. For a moment, he thought Hogwarts had submerged itself into the Black lake, but that was silly. No, this was Atlantis._

 _And it was under attack._

 _Percy saw a horde of monsters storm one of the entrances of the wall where a battle commenced. He thought he saw his half-brother, Triton, lead an army to defend the place. In the water above them, several dolphins and sharks roamed threateningly to stave off an aerial…above-castle-water attack. On the other side of the castle, there were up to a dozen teen foot tall Cyclops guarding the south entrance from a legion of half seal demons. Percy swam towards them, wondering if he could kill some of the demons at the end, but then, the entire ocean floor shook. It seemed like the water was agitated to such a degree that Percy was swept away by one of the waves. It was like the ocean was at war with itself._

 _An old kind of magic pulsed on the other side. Older than the gods. Percy's fear mount when he thought he saw a huge form, terrible like_ _Kampê who had attacked camp in the summer. This felt even more horrific. Its form was blurred and its silhouette was shrouded in the mist. Percy couldn't even look at it clearly._

 _ **Percy**_ _. A familiar, safe voice rumbled from behind him. He knew who it was._

" _Dad?"_

 _ **I'm sorry.**_

" _What, dad? Where are you?"_

 _Poseidon didn't answer. Sickening dread filled his gut and Percy reached around as though he could find Poseidon hiding behind an invisible layer in the water._

 _The dream changed from the dull green and blue mesh into the brightness of camp. No!, Percy wanted to yell. What happened to his dad? Where was he? Why did he apologize? What for?_

 _Percy was standing next to the Golden Fleece. Peleus was asleep, long golden tail wrapped around the trunk of Thalia's pine tree. The fleece shimmed as someone adjusted it, making sure that it wouldn't fall off._

" _Grover?" Percy whispered. His best friend, Grover Underwood was standing by the tree, right at home._

" _Hey, Perce. It's not looking good for you, is it?"_

 _He surged forwards to grab the satyr in his arms. "You're real! You're here!"_

 _Grover laughed. "Bwa haha! Percy! Can't breathe!"_

 _He nearly cried. It had been months! "Where are you!? Tell me! We need to find you!"_

" _I don't remember, Perce! It's been too long!"_

" _What?"_

 _Grover suddenly looked worried. "I'm sleeping. I think. But it's not like a regular sleep. I think… no, I'm sure someone put me under."_

" _Someone put you to sleep?" Percy held his shoulders tight. They were finally the same height now. Grover had always looked a little taller with his horns. Speaking of which, his horns had grown even more now, making him look more mature._

" _I don't remember. That's the problem. If I could, I'd tell you and you'd find me…"_

" _The mind link isn't working either." Percy said hurriedly. "I tried calling a million times, the hunters searched for you everywhere, none of us can find you! Thalia also said there were forests that were asleep on the East coast. Are you in one of them?"_

 _Grover frowned, thinking back. "Probably. I remember arguing with Silenus. I was… angry. I thik I said some stuff I shouldn't have. I should have gone to see Juni, but I didn't want her to see me like this."_

 _He gave a sniff. "I miss Juni."_

 _Percy sighed in sympathy. "I'm sorry, G-man. But I'll tell her you're still here! If you're in one of the sleeping forests, we can find you, right?"_

 _Grover wiped a tear away. "Wait, how are you dreaming about me now?"_

" _I dunno. May be the link's working again?"_

 _Percy looked over at the camp. It was strangely empty. Peleus was still quiet and completely out._

" _Is there a chance you could be in the camp forest?"_

" _I'm not. I remember leaving. But I can't recall where…"_

" _We'll find you. I'll find you, Grover, I promise!"_

 _Grover suddenly looked at him, sad. "Will you?"_

 _The question through him off. Percy couldn't understand. "How … Grover, I'll always come for you!"_

" _What about Tom?"_

 _This made him freeze. Grover looked half defeated just by uttering the name. He knew about Tom Riddle. Percy could tell now. He knew about everything._

" _He promised me he'd help find you."_

" _You can't trust him, Percy. He is Voldemort."_

" _I know that! But he saved Nico and I made a promise to help him find his… treasures… I don't know what they exactly are, but it's really important to him."_

 _Grover shook his head. "Percy, listen to me. He is not good. These things you're helping him find, each one of them are exactly like the locket."_

 _Percy's blood turned to ice. He couldn't even think past that. The locket was bad enough, Tom now had the ring and a tiara. If he used them to control other people –"_

" _Oh gods…" Percy whispered. "I didn't think… Nico's right. I am an idiot. I'm stupid! How could I –"_

" _You're not an idiot! Percy, you need to make a plan. If you owe him a life debt for saving Nico, you need to follow it through. But the moment you find all his treasures, you have to destroy them. They're making him more powerful. Find a way to tell Harry. The more you delay, the more he can make you do things, the more you'll lose your control. You'll start pushing everyone away! Rachel was the first, it'll end with Annabeth and your mom and Nico. Tom does not care about you. He may not kill you because he knows about the Gods now. But he could destroy everything else. You have to stay strong. Forget about me and get rid of those treasures!"_

 _Grover had Percy's forearms in a tight grip, but Percy couldn't respond._

" _Percy, please. Don't let him take over. It's not going to end well if he has too much power. Just… tell Juni I love her. Please. Just tell her…don't trust him…"_

 _The dream faded and Percy fell into what might have been a realm of oblivion._

* * *

 _Hogwarts, Saturday, Oct 27  
11:00 a.m._

The next day, when Sirius came to pick them up for the appointment, DJ wasn't in the Great Hall. Harry sat alone with Hedwig pushing a bowl of porridge towards him to make him eat some brunch. He kept pushing it away.

Ron and Hermione still hadn't confronted him about it. He wished they would just so that he could get it over with. Ginny hadn't looked at him since yesterday, preferring to stay by DJ to comfort him. Harry wasn't sure what she thought of him now.

Hermione leaned in from across the table and cleared her throat. "Er… Harry?"

He looked up by the slightest angle.

"We won't tell anyone. We swear, it's… it's your secret, okay?"

Ron looked terrified as though Harry would shatter like fragile glass at those words. The latter nodded stiffly and then sat up when he saw Sirius standing by the entrance. "See you later."

"But you haven't eate –"

"Not hungry."

Sirius frowned at Harry's solemn posture. "Hey, bud. Is there a pr –"

"No." Harry said, shoving his hands into his pockets and ignoring the rumbling in his stomach. "All good here."

His godfather nodded. Sirius looked tired himself, but at least he and the rest of the Order didn't seem to find anything out of the ordinary. The meeting had gone undetected. That should have lifted his spirits, Harry remained quiet.

"Where's DJ?"

"He's not coming."

Sirius looked surprise. "Oh. Is he busy…?"

Harry pushed back yesterday's memory. "Rachel called, she won't be at the house today. So…it's just the session and straight back here."

Sirius blinked. "Well! Alright. But if you want to meet Sally –"

"No, it's fine. I have a ton of homework… I'll just stay here, this weekend."

He might not have done the best job in convincing Sirius because the man still looked suspicious, but he relented. "Okay, then. I'll talk to him later. Sally was looking forwards to seeing you…"

Harry didn't say anything. All morning while everyone was talking about some altercation that had happened outside the castle wards last night and some others were chattering about the meeting yesterday, Harry had just wanted to suffocate himself. He didn't care about what was happening to the outside world. DJ wasn't talking to him and even Ginny was avoiding him now. Ron and Hermione, for all their kind words still whispered in hush tones, probably wondering if he was even their friend now.

They went to the Hospital Wing to use madam Pomfrey's floo. Harry went through the motions mechanically, registering at the reception of the clinic and then muttering stuff to Mantis.

Unfortunately the healer called him out for it.

"Harry, if you don't want to converse, you may leave." Mantis said, not looking annoyed, just concerned. It suddenly felt fake. Harry wanted to snap at him.

"You want me to leave?"

"No. I'd rather we talk about why you stopped playing the guitar, but you're clearly not in the mood for a discussion."

Well, he wasn't going to tell him about Rachel. Too many people had already witnessed the altercation. Harry wasn't even sure who he was really mad at. It started with Percy but ended with himself.

"I fought with someone yesterday." Harry decided to say.

"Somebody close?"

"Yes."

Mantis nodded. "Do you regret it?"

 _Do I regret telling DJ that Rachel was alive in the first place? Yeah._

He shrugged, not moving from the chair. Generally, he would walk around for a bit of freedom to talk, but today was just a sit down day.

"Harry, may I suggest something?"

"Try something new."

Harry stared at the old man. "New?"

"Yes. A hobby, an activity. Try a new ice cream flavor, if you want. But the catch is that I want you to talk to someone you've never talked to before. Just… have that venture."

"You want me to talk to a stranger?"

Mantis made a show of closing his notepad. "I want you to make a friend. Do you know everyone in the castle?"

"No."

"Then find at least one person and do something with them that's new. Attend a club you've never been to, or visit another house's common room."

"Pretty sure the last one's illegal."

"It's not illegal, it's just frowned upon. The point I'm trying to make is, you have your set circle of friends. I want you to expand it. Even if it's just for a few minutes. Share an activity with this person. And then, introduce what you've learned from this person to the friend you fought with."

"This is the oddest homework."

Mantis grinned. Harry shook his head. "Can't you tell me some regular stuff? Why do I have to go talk to someone?"

"Because I've noticed you prefer to stay away from unknown people."

"Like a sane person."

"Yes, but school is the time when making friends has more leeway. It's a little more difficult when you're an adult. Especially if you see that there are hurdles. Now, Harry, I know you're more reserved than most (Harry scoffed) so I want you to make an attempt. Even if you can't do an activity, just try talking to someone new for a few minutes. That's the focus."

Harry dropped his head into his hands with a groan. "How would you know if I did the assignment?"

"I wouldn't. I'm just suggesting this."

"I'm not going to like it."

"You might just surprise yourself, Harry." Mantis smiled. "Times like that are quite memorable."

He finally agreed, knowing that he'd regret it. Mantis saw him out and Sirius looked up from the lounge, caught off guard. He threw back the tabloid he'd been holding which had been the Witch Weekly.

Harry raised his eyebrows. "We're done for the day."

"It's barely been twenty minutes."

"It was a long twenty minutes."

Sirius eyes him suspiciously. "Harry, are you alright? Is this because of Rach – "

"It was Mantis's idea. Ask him, if you like." Harry jerked a thumb towards the healer and Sirius sighed. "I'm not judging you, Harry. But I will have a talk with him."

"Fine." Harry threw himself into his seat and grabbed the same magazine. Sirius blushed for a moment before marching up to the good healer.

It wasn't that Harry had expected Mantis to solve all his problems… but when he'd asked him to talk to a stranger and then introduce that stranger to DJ… yeah, weirdest assignment ever.

Harry flipped through the glossy sweet smelling pages, smirking at the advertisements when someone pulled on his jacket. He moved the magazine away and saw a tiny kid, seven years old or so. It was the same kid from last week. Harry wondered if he was Chinese when the boy held out a slip of paper to him.

His immediate thought was that it could be a portkey. Harry looked at the folded piece of a torn page and then at the boy.

"Hi, what's your name?" Look at that, he was doing his homework already!

The child looked terrified. His brown eyes had gone wide and he looked ready to bolt. Harry guessed that the boy had recognized him from the newspapers.

"I'm not going to autograph it, if that's what you want." He told him. The boy didn't respond still not withdrawing the paper.

Harry looked around. The reception area wasn't crowded. It never was. Nobody was looking at him. The kid's mother was in the front row, engrossed in a book. There were two women in the second row. For some reason Harry didn't feel too… paranoid. He generally always had a prickling feeling if he as being watched.

"Just this once." Harry muttered and took the paper, ready to face anything that happened…

Nothing happened. The kid ran away, jumped on his mother's lap and hugged her. She let out an "Oi!" as she looked down at her child in a playful way and pocked his stomach. The child hide his face, giving a half hearted giggle.

Something about the scene made Harry relax. He'd been worried if the kid had been a messenger, delivering a portkey, a threatening message or even a bomb. The last thought made him shiver and nearly brought him back to Rome. Pulling himself back into the present, Harry stared at the paper. He folded it and stared at the small scrawl across the page. It was written in a child's writing. He couldn't tell what language it was though. Nothing he knew.

And even yet, he was feeling better. Was that what Mantis had meant by talking to new people? It felt like a distraction. As though he could pretend he didn't have baggage by introducing a different more acceptable version of himself to the person who didn't know anything about him.

And that was nice and all… but he wanted to fix things that happened with the people he already knew. DJ would require an apology. Percy… that was an odd one, Harry had no idea what was going on there. And Rachel would need an apology too.

 _I'll go over there now… no, Sirius would ask too many questions… Fine, Monday. Right after classes, heading to Goode._

It wasn't like she could hit him in public.

Sirius exited the office then, responding to whatever Mantis was saying. Harry slipped the paper into his pocket. He was about to drop the magazine on to the table when he spotted his name on one of the articles.

… _while Skeeter is adamant that Potter was taken to Rome, of all places, to treat his problems. That woman is one bludger short of a Quidditch game kit, but her 'evidence' has been approved by the Daily Prophet enough for it to be published. What does that mean? Is there a truth in her horde of lies? Is Harry Potter really gay? Is there a possibility that the young generation of witches have never had the chance to be Mrs. Potter? Is Potter in love with the mysterious Jackson and not with Hermione Granger? Is this the end of the Potter line? We here at the Witch Weekly wonder what James and Lily Potter would have to say about that. All this writer is sure about is that Skeeter has promised to edit up her previous article and add new substance to it. She has announced that it would be more of an epic than a report. Hold on to your wands, ladies. This ride going to be more bumpy than the Knight Bus!_

"I'm going to have to apologize." Sirius was saying. "I didn't mean to doubt you, but a follow up is always good… Harry?"

"I'm fine." Harry said, trying not to grit his teeth.

* * *

 _Manhattan, Monday, Oct 29  
Goode High School -11:00 a.m._

Denise was the one who found out. She rushed up to Nico and Gil, huffing and clutching a stitch in her stomach.

"What's wrong?" Gil asked turning around in his seat. Nico and he had just sat down at the regular table in the cafeteria.

"Where's… Ash?"

"I thought he was with you."

"No… Dick…and Ward…" She panted and finally stood up. "They're searching… for him."

Nico inhaled. "Oh gods. And you can't find him?"

"No! What if they got him already? Ward is super mad!"

"What happened this time!?" Gil complained, struggling to get out of the complicated bench. Nico stood up and they followed Denise outside.

"Dick said Ash was making him look bad in Science. Which is stupid because he doesn't need anyone to make him look bad."

"This isn't good. Ash was supposed to be here by now." Gil said, looking around the lawns. There were many kids in the ground, but the lawn held only high schoolers who liked to eat outside.

"We should tell a teacher!"

"It'll be too late. And may be Ash found a place to hide."

"Yeah, but a teacher can at least find Ward or Dick and give them detention."

Nico slouched praying that Ash would be alright. Gil had told him privately that last year, Dick had beaten Ash up for no reason. Well... they knew the reason. The Forsythes were xenophobic.

Xenophobia was Nico's word of the week. It did not have a nice meaning.

For some reason, out of Ashley, Gil and Nico, Dick hated Ash most of all. Denise thought it had something to do with Ash being the shortest and the easier target. That or Dick Forsythe was just a dick.

Nico wished he could punch him. He remembered Percy would begin a lecture of the secret which couldn't be exposed no matter what and that made him even more miserable. It wasn't fair. If Dick could hurt them, they should be able to hit back. And mortal Dick could actually die if Nico gave him a powerful enough kick to the gut.

"Do you hear that?" Gil said, looking around again. Nico strained his ears and could discern noises of a crowd yelling "Fight, fight, fight!"

"I think that's outside the campus. Ash wouldn't leave, would he?" Denise asked, suddenly very worried.

"Or Dick dragged him out to escape the teachers." Nico suggested, heading for the gates. He felt the blood pumping but not in the same way that he felt when a monster confronted him. This was a different kind of energy, fuelled by anger, fear and a dash of helplessness.

The security guard was busy with something and the three kids walked out, looking around the roads. There were not as busy but there was a crowd somewhere near the end of the block. It was composed of several kids about Percy's age, may be. Nico felt another dose of that helplessness hit him. He didn't like it.

He ran towards the teens, pushing his way to the front and stared at a sobbing Ashley, kneeling on the pavement with a black eye. Ward was laughing by the side with his big, dumb friends, encouraging Dick to hit him again and Nico saw red. He surged forwards and pushed Dick so hard that the boy fell forwards with a shriek and the crowd went silent.

Ward froze, his stupid face going red and indignant. "I'll kill you!"

"You're a bully!" Nico yelled. Denise and Gil, hesitated at the fringe before walking towards Ash and helping him up. Everyone there was older and taller than the four of them. Nico felt the adrenaline to walk up to Ward and hit him.

And Ward would fall because demigod punches were almost always bone breaking. And that would break the rules.

But the mist should cover it. Nico was almost ready to give a gravity defying kick but Ward stood to his full height and glared down at him.

In the back of his mind, there was a voice telling Nico why he needed to back down. It sounded awfully like Percy's. It was the wrong time to think about this but Nico couldn't bear to let Percy down even if it meant getting hit. But that's the problem, he didn't want to get hit.

"I should teach you a lesson." Ward thundered. Some of his buddies from the football team flanked him. "If you come to America, you have to live by _our_ rules, not wherever you're from."

"I am from here, dumbass!" Nico snapped, shaking. "I live here."

"Yeah, but where are you from? Like, your origins."

 _Italian and Greek_ , Nico thought. "I _am_ an American, but at least, I'm nice. You're just being an idiot."

Dick got up, touching his bruised nose, tenderly. "You're gonna get it now, runt."

Denise whispered, "Nico, let's go!"

But Nico couldn't. It felt like running away and he didn't want to do that. He wanted to show Ward and Dick and all these people what it felt like, but he couldn't put it in words. His hands were still shaking, his face was hot, he was sweating and it was nothing like facing a mythical monster. Nico was completely out of his league.

Ward advanced. Nico couldn't move. He'd never felt fear like this. He'd faced Geryon and King Minos and all those monsters from the labyrinth, Kampê, and even his father without breaking down. What made Ward Forsythe more formidable than them?

Nico clenched his fists and stood there, ready to dodge the inevitable punch, but then, Ward stumbled over something and fell, almost like his brother had, catching himself before he could hit the ground.

Deus Ex Machina was a term that had been reserved for the entrance of Gods, but Harry probably didn't care about that. As Nico watched in disbelief, the wizard placed his leg back from where he'd stuck it out to trip Ward.

The crowd suddenly gave Harry a wide space. He didn't seem perturbed at all that Ward was now glaring at him. Nico was glad that the attention was off him. He retreated and stood next to Gil who was openly gaping at Harry.

"Ash?" Nico whispered. Ash gave a hiccup but muttered, " 'M fine."

"For a face that big… " Harry drawled. "You'd expect something to function inside."

Someone in the crowd giggled. Ward growled. "Big words, punk."

" _Function_ isn't a big word. I wouldn't torture anyone like that. But I am curious, you were about to teach a lesson."

"This doesn't concern you."

Harry grinned. It made his eyes glitter with a nasty look. "My friends concern me. Better than that, your stupidity should concern everyone. I've noticed you haven't asked where _I'm_ from."

"What?"

"You asked Nico where he's from. You haven't asked me. Any reason?"

Ward looked confused for a split second. "Are you nuts?"

"No. Are you ignorant?"

Harry wasn't doing anything to settle the situation. Nico wondered if he wanted a fight.

The junior stepped right into Harry's personal space. Nico sighed. This wasn't going to end well. He didn't do anything to stop it though. A part of him wanted to see Ward get hit.

Harry was more than a head shorter than him, and he looked absolutely chill.

"You're asking for it."

"You think so? I was expecting you to ask where I'm from. Because unlike Nico and his friends…" Harry's voice dropped to a stage whisper, "I'm not an American!"

Ward didn't move. "So?"

Harry burst out laughing. "This is too good! Looks like we're all going to learn something!"

Dick turned towards Nico and hissed. "Your friend's dead."

"No." Nico said, almost reserved. The question was would Ward need an ambulance or would he book a cab.

"Oh, is that your brother?"

"You don't look at him!"

"Right, I guess you're touchy about that. Now why don't you get out of my face and maybe we can resolve this without too much blood."

"Or maybe you should have shut your trap." Ward threatened and threw a fist at him. Nico held his breath. Harry caught the thick wrist, twisted his arm and forced Ward to bend over backwards to avoid breaking his shoulder joint.

The junior let out a short scream. One of the football players yelled, "Hey! What the fuck?!"

Harry let go, suddenly looking more dangerous. "You like watching little kids get hurt?"

Some people in the crowd left. Nico didn't blame them. If anyone looked at him like that, he'd be bringing his sword out.

Ward clutched his arm. "Saul, get him!"

The other guy, Saul, hesitated. Harry turned to look at him and Saul backed down. "Uh, no man, he's all yours!"

"Dick, right?" Harry asked Dick.

"It's… Richy."

"Right, Richy. It's not cool to hurt people who don't look like you. In fact, it's not cool to hurt anyone at all. See, I hurt your brother, do you feel okay about it?"

"N…no."

"Exactly. See, Ward. If you don't teach him, someone else will."

Ward's glare was fierce. "I'll find you later…"

Harry smiled. "Go ahead. I'll break your jaw, your wrists and your knee caps. But I'll also call an ambulance, so don't worry about that."

Something about that sentence made Ward snap and he hurled himself onto Harry. Nico had seen Clarisse practice moves like that during wrestling, but she always had more finesse and always succeeded in scaring her opponents. Harry merely looked annoyed. He stepped to the side and gave a proper roundhouse kick to Ward back, sending him crashing into the wall.

Everyone winced. Dick cried out and yelled, "Stoppit!"

"You heard him, stop it, Ward." Harry joked.

Ward's heat was cut and bleeding. He grabbed his hand but Harry twisted it out of his grip, this time not letting go when Ward grunted in pain.

"Harry." Nico warned.

"There are going to be idiots like this who'll look down on you for the rest your life, Nico." Harry said sharply. "You have to show them that you're not someone they can walk over. That involves getting your hands a little dirty. But it can be good, because, as now Ward will demonstrate, this particular problem will be over. Go on, Ward, apologize to them."

Ward told him to go do something to himself. Harry rolled his eyes. "Creative. I could never come up with that. Do you wanna lose your hand?"

"He's sorry!" Dick shouted. "Ward, say it!"

Nico swore he heard something creak in Ward's shoulder. Harry still didn't let go, looking so brutal it was a wonder that Ward didn't cave in.

"HARRY!" Someone shrieked and Nico knew that voice.

"Oh no." Harry muttered.

Rachel stormed into the crowd, with a few of her friends. (Nico was surprised no one had called a teacher.) She glared at him in shock. "The hell! Let him go!"

"He hasn't apologized."

"I don't give a shit! You'll break his arm!"

"Look at that kid, Rachel." Harry said, nodding towards Ashley. Ash ducked his head trying to hide the black eye. Rachel clenched her jaw when she saw him but turned around and said very clearly. "Let go of him, _now_!"

Harry and Rachel dissolved into a staring contest which ended in Harry relenting and letting Ward go free. The meaty junior fell to his knees, cradling his right arm. Dick rushed to him, blubbering in tears. Nico felt a little bad for them, but not much.

"Unbelievable!" Rachel ranted. She grabbed Harry by the elbow and pulled him to the side, hissing at him.

"Say…" Denise whispered. "He sort of looks like her, don't you think?"

Nico sighed. After all the craziness about keep the relation a secret, this was the tipping point. He saw Rachel's soccer friends muttering about Harry as well. This wasn't going to blow over any time soon.

Not to mention, Percy was going to freak when he found out.

* * *

 **And that's it for the week. Stay tuned, gentle creatures. You're in for an epic ride!**

 **Q: What is the coined meaning of the word Horcrux?**

 **Cabba.**


	35. Happy Halloween

**A: Rowling made the term Horcrux from the French term** _ **Desors**_ **– outside- and** _ **crux**_ **– soul. Soul outside the body.**

 **ShadeofDeath746: Thanks. Malfoy is a good choice, but you're right, I'm thinking of someone else who'll gain a little relevance later on. And you're right on the question.**

 **Catie Cat: Something like that. And The kid's going to be a little vital, especially in destabilizing Harry's healing process. We're gonna have a reference from the past (I haven't included that in this chapter though).**

 **brade1991: You'll probably like what have in store for Rita Skeeter later on. The thing about DJ isn't an all right or wrong situation. There's a scene with DJ and Rachel here, go for it.**

 **Sherlock Harry Winchester: You're right about that. If I plan this right, we'll get a massive Harry vs. Percy argument later on in the story.**

 **Thanks for all the comments and views, you readers and critics keep me going! Here's a long update just for you! (It might feel like a filler, but it has some good plot points to keep in mind.)**

 **Warning: Drinking, swearing  
(These kids would be swearing pretty often, so take this warning as something that goes without saying from now on.)**

* * *

 _Long Island, Monday, Oct 29  
Camp Half Blood -11:30 a.m._

Percy sneaked into camp for the sole purpose of talking to Juniper. After the distressing weekend that involved him… well, breaking a few dozen laws… he needed to do something right.

Tom ignored the jibe and kept replaying the memories in his head.

 _Azkaban loomed over them, a foreboding prison of gloom and misery. Dozens of dementors hovered around the building and the cold was biting right through his skin and tissue, slapping his bones with a layer of ice. The sea was frigid but its power was the only reason why Percy was still standing. The clouds hid the entire island from the sun and it was hard to say what time of the day it was just by looking around. But that wasn't the important part. They had a job to do and it wasn't easy keeping his mind on the task._

 _He was still half stunned from everything that had happened. Grover's voice still echoed and he did his best to stamp it down and not let Tom realise what Grover had said. He needed to get back to the present. They were going to break into Azkaban._

" _Anyone else wouldn't be able to see the prison." Tom said, observing the structure. "Or the dementors. It's all cloaked under some of the strongest enchantments in the world."_

 _He gave Percy a grin that matched the pain of the cold. Percy shuddered as he walked towards the edge of the rocks on the main land. With a nod from Tom, Percy braced his muscles and dived into the ocean._

 _The waves were terribly strong. An ordinary swimmer would have drown or been bashed against the side of the rocks. Percy navigated through the power with ease, reaching the base of the island. The water level had risen over the centuries and now came up to a few feet of the prison itself. The foundation of Azkaban was even rotted under the pressure of the constant waves. There were even barnacles stuck to the sides, rendering the structure coarse and scrapped. Percy wondered if anyone even realised the damage._

 _Tom snorted. "Get around to the front. The guards are going to change in a few minutes, we need to act before that."_

 _Percy swam, letting the waves push him around towards the main entrance. When he poked his head out of the water, he saw two men standing outside the small door that was embedded into a side of the building._

 _He simply climbed up the rocky edge and walked towards them. They paid no attention to him. They were talking about something, in a very fast conversation, that he couldn't understand if it was even English._

 _He stood right in front of the door when one of the men called out, "Ei. 'Ere they are!"_

" ' _Bout time!" The other said, and they stepped forwards to take a closer look at the small boat carrying a fresh batch of guards, on the rough waves. Silently, Percy opened the door, getting through the locked charms with no hassle._

" _Now, my counterpart informed us about the levels 29 to 47…and he mentioned 34 in particular…" Tom was looking at the bleak and dark walls that had water dripping down. The smell of the ocean was barely sensed within the structure. Percy shivered. The stairs were narrow and slippery. He began to climb._

 _They came across dementors several times but Tom's eyes would glow red and they would flee from him like cloaked spiders. His resulting grin was worse and Percy had to wrap his arms around his body to reduce the shivering._

 _Tom told him to keep climbing past level 29…34… and even 47. They got onto level 83 when he stopped walking and Percy stopped too._

" _I think … yes."_

 _Tom took out the vial that held the hair of Cornelius Fudge. Percy watched, still shaking from the cold. One lone strand was taken out and Tom pressed it to the wall beside them._

" _Ar…Aren't… w-w-we…going up?" Percy gasped. At his voice, the cells around them came alive. The prisoners moved and tried to crawl towards the bars. Percy flinched. He knew nobody would see them, but it was a gruesome sight. The people were barely people, more like struggling centipedes trying to drag themselves on the dirty floors. Some of them moaned. One woman began to scream so suddenly that Percy jumped and Tom sighed in irritation._

 _The wall shuddered and moved inwards. Tom pushed Percy through it before the dementors converged on the shell of the prisoner and she fell quiet immediately with a gargle._

" _Now that's better." Tom sounded pleased. Percy didn't see a difference between the new place and the corridor where they'd emerged from. This was just as miserable as the rest of the place._

 _They found another set of staircase. This section of the structure had even more dementors. Percy felt his tears freeze on his cheeks. He felt so alone, moving with a possessing spirit in the worst place in the world, even more terrible than the jail in Germany had seemed. He tried to think about something positive, something good and warm. His first thought was Annabeth but he imagined her shrinking form as she walked away from him. She'd hate him if she knew what he was up to. Everyone would hate him. Mom and Nico would be shocked, Harry and DJ would never speak to him for helping Voldemort._

 _What would Sirius say? Percy couldn't imagine anyone staying here for an extended period of time and leaving the same as before. It was a testament to how Sirius had survived twelve years. Just thinking about it made Percy want to get the man a gift bag of puppies. And chocolate. And a blanket. And everything, really._

 _Percy thought back and tied to recall what Sirius had said about Azkaban. Dementors sucked out happiness. But hope wasn't happy. It was powerful and neutral because anyone could be hopeful and that emotion could be misleading or empowering. What was the hope in this situation?_

 _Tom tilted his head and Percy was terrified that he had been listening to his thoughts._

" _There she is." Tom whispered, walking faster. Percy had no clue how Tom found a recognizable face in the mass of skeletons that were still alive._

 _They jogged towards the end of the hallway. The last cell was even colder than the other. Two dementors floated away as they neared the cell and Percy stopped, trying to look through the bars and see the person inside. There was a silhouette. It was hard to make out a noticeable face._

 _Tom took out two vials from inside his jacket. One was the polyjuice potion they'd stolen from Crouch's stash. The other was Fudge's hair._

"Percy?" Juniper's voice startled Percy out of the recollection. He was glad for it. Azkaban's cold was still wrapped around him even as he stood in the sunny forest.

"Hey, Juniper. I have to make this quick –"

"Oh my gods." She gasped quietly, placing a hand over her mouth. "What happened to you?!"

"Huh?" Percy stared as she rushed towards him and took his hands. "You're so pale! And cold! Did you get attacked? Are you bleeding?"

"No… no, I was just… I heard from Grover."

Her tone changed at once. She sounded very urgent and her grip became tight. "Where? When? Just now? Where you out looking for him? Is he hurt? Oh gods, is he –"

"Juni, listen! He… he told me to tell you that he loves you." Percy whispered. His voice felt so frail. Juniper froze.

"What happened?" She stammered. She sounded like she was about to cry.

"He said that somebody put him to sleep. That's why we've been finding forests asleep. All the nature spirits are falling asleep. We don't know if it's connected to the Titans…"

Juniper gave a stiff sob, green water filling her eyes in a swift motion. She started to cry. "B -But why would he tell you to say that!? He can wake up, right? He will wake up!"

Percy wanted to calm her down but his voice wouldn't work. He hadn't slept in more than a day and the screams of the prisoners in Azkaban started to ring in his head again. The heat of the day went dull and he was standing on the rocks looking up at the prison, helplessly. He couldn't even turn back. The only thing that had kept him walking through the building, past the dementors, had been the locket burning against his chest. His only hope had been that stupid, cursed locket and Voldemort himself.

"Percy! Are you okay?"

"Yes!" He panted, focusing on the grass growing on her wrists. The blades were a sharp and bright green. Just like Harry's eyes. And Rachel's. He wondered how they'd react to his collaboration with Tom. "I'm fine! I just… It was a lot of effort to talk to him."

Juniper made a sound of sympathy. "You're trying so hard, Percy. You need to rest too. Look, we'll get you to the Infirmary and you can lie down for a bit."

He did not deserve her kindness. Percy tried to smile and felt his face stretch almost painfully in the effort. "Juni… it's okay. I need to get back… I just had to tell you that…if it takes more time to find him, you still have to know that he's not with the Titans as a prisoner. We'll just search the forests again."

After a few more minutes, Juniper agreed reluctantly and let him leave. Percy didn't want to stay at camp where Tom could have free reign.

* * *

 _Manhattan, Monday, Oct 29  
Goode High School -11:20 a.m._

"You are unbelievable!" Rachel hissed. She wanted to say more but doubted it would phase Harry. The guy looked like he could care less about what he'd done.

"I will take that as a compliment."

"It wasn't one."

"You can't seriously blame me for those two! They were hurting –"

"So, obviously, you thought beating him up was the best course of action?"

Harry's nostrils flared. His eyes flashed but Rachel stood her ground. She wasn't afraid of him. Wizards and witches and demigods were a thing of the past in her life, now. The scythe charm was now always in her bag, with her everywhere she went. She hadn't chosen a side yet. But she would. She swore she would.

Yet, every time she held the bracelet in her palm… it felt wrong.

"What are you even doing here? Wasn't it you who wanted all that secrecy and security? You just made a show here, in front of my school. I think that breaks the grounds for any secret."

Harry exhaled. "Alright, fine. It wasn't one of my better moments. I've had a bad weekend, sue me."

"You think you're weekend was bad?" Rachel scoffed. "If you knew what I… actually, you don't deserve to know what happened in _my_ weekend. I'm out, Harry. So, please. Leave."

"What happened?" Harry asked immediately. "Did you get hurt? Did –"

"Go back to where you're from!" Rachel half yelled. "That's what you wanted to hear from Ward, didn't you?!"

"I'm sorry!" Harry shouted. "Alright? I made a mistake! I should have sided with you! I'm sorry, I didn't!"

She shook her head. "I don't want your apology. Get out of my life."

"Percy shouldn't have said that. I don't know why… I'll talk to him. He probably regrets it –"

"He's been avoiding me for days. He doesn't regret it, trust me." Rachel took a step back, trying to breathe more slowly. The crowd that had been watching them were being dispersed by Isi, bless her. Nico was still standing there with a friend of his. But someone called his name and he followed two other kids his age, back to the school.

Harry looked contrite. "I…I regret it. I am very sorry, Rachel. I should have stopped him."

"You should have." Rachel agreed. She felt her eyes burn again but forced herself to remain stoic. "You're on Percy's side, Harry. You always have been and you always will. He's more like you, it's easier. Underneath everything, I'm being excluded because I'm a squib. You can deny it how much ever you want –"

"That's not true, Rachel!"

"Just! Just listen to me! If I had magic, it would be easier on everyone. That's the truth!"

Harry groaned. "Rachel, it's too dangerous to get completely involved and you can't defend yourself if something did happen. That's why I want you to stay away! Not because I don't want you with us, because I want you to be alive by the end of all this!"

"It…it doesn't feel that way!" Rachel hissed. "It feels like I'm only a part of your life and that's all I ever will be! I have _my_ life, Harry! I have my choices!"

"Sometimes you don't!"

"That's not fair!"

"Life's not fair!"

Rachel glared at him. "You don't get to do that. You don't get to point out at my shortcomings and blame it on life!"

Harry nearly threw his hands up. "It's not anyone's shortcomings! Rachel, if the roles were reversed, what would you do? What if I didn't have magic and you did? What if you were the Chosen One and I was the unbelievably lucky one who no one knows is alive, with a happy and comfortable life away from all the problems and misery, totally out of the reality of the upcoming war?! What would you do? What would you choose?!"

She took another step back. It felt like his words had punched her with the same intensity as Percy's had. There was hurt welling up inside of her from the harshness of his tone. In the back of her, she knew there was sense in what he said. But she didn't want to believe that. She wanted to have some control in her own life. Harry had just thrown open the last question she'd ever wanted to face. And now it was right in front of her.

"It's not fair." Rachel's voice shook. She could feel the tears in her eyes and blinked hard to get rid of them. "Why didn't I get any magic?"

The glare on Harry's face disappeared so fast that it was gone in a blink. He looked shocked.

"Why am I not a witch?" She whispered. "What's wrong with me that I didn't get that power? I can see through the mist, I can see your shields and your magic, I _have something_ , but clearly, it's not enough to be involved. Who the hell decided that I should be a muggle? Who decided what my role should be? Where am I? On the outside or on the fringes, I don't know. But it sure as hell isn't part of the world I was born in and then pushed out. That's what you're trying to say. I can't be a part of your world because it isn't mine as well. Your friends aren't mine. You've made it very clear that it isn't my choice where I should be because I'm not like you!"

"It's no one's choice! I'm sorry, it just happens! No one gets to decide how they're born!"

"And I'm being pushed away because of that!"

"No, I'm pushing you away because I don't want you to be tortured and die!"

They were yelling now. Anyone could hear what they were arguing. And anyone who overheard them would be confused and alarmed. Rachel desperately tried to stop crying but it was too late.

"I'm not blaming you!" She shrieked. Harry seemed absolutely distressed at her tears. "I just hate this! It's not fair! Why do you get to be a wizard but I'm stuck like a crazy person!? I don't even know where I am. I know everything but I'm not a part of any of it. Why can't I be a witch!?"

"Rachel, I'm sorry – "

" _Stop apologizing!"_

"I don't know what else to do! I just want you to understand this! Please, look at it from my side."

She finally gave him a long glare, trying to hold her arms tight to her sides to stop them from shaking. "It makes sense to you because that's all you know. You don't understand what it's like for me. You don't understand what it's like seeing strange and horrifying things and not sure if you're stuck in a nightmare or if it's real life. You'll never know what it feels like seeing monsters attacking and eating people and _nobody_ believes you. My parents thought I was crazy! Do you know how many therapists _I've_ seen?! Every _one_ of them were so confident that it was my overactive imagination! They looked at my drawings and decided that all I needed was a little medicine and I was good to go! I've been having pills for seven years and they've done shit for me! You don't know what it's like from my standpoint because from here, you're one of the hundred people who decided my problems for me and told me to get over it and get back to normal society! YOU. DO. NOT. GET. TO. MAKE. THAT. DECISION!"

Harry's expression went reserved. Rachel was trying to catch her breath. He took his time in responding.

"If it keeps you alive, then I will make that decision."

Her mind went blank. She couldn't process those words. It sounded like something her mother or father would say every time she screamed against swallowing tablets or drinking foul tasting medicines. Those pills made her black out from the strain of her mind wrestling with the visions. Sometimes she'd wake up having drawn a lot of terrifying pictures that she had to rip up unless someone spotted them. Other times, she'd wake up in a different part of the house without knowledge of how she got there.

Those drugs were the reason why some of her visions had been suppressed. After a few months of not seeing anything clearly, she finally caught sight of something that she'd never encountered before.

It was an eight year old Percy, sobbing by the rails of a huge ship in the Atlantic Ocean. It had felt like a fading nightmare. Rachel was scared that she'd get admitted in a hospital, this time for good. But as the days went by, she kept seeing this boy. One day she spoke to him. She heard him blubber out how happy he was that he had one friend. She was so glad that she was doing something good with her strange power.

Finally, someone who had seen her as helpful instead of irrational and sick.

It hurt more than anyone could know when Percy lashed out at her. And it hurt just as much when Harry admitted that he'd rather she was a crazy asylum patient rather than anywhere near his world.

 _He wants you to stay alive._ Bolt's voice was so far away.

"It's so… easy for you to think that." Rachel whispered. Harry was resigned, expecting her wrath.

"I hope you know what it feels like to not have magic." She gasped in her haste to get the words out before breaking down. "To not have any agency over your own life. I hope you get to feel that powerlessness. You think you have it great, now. You can break any rule and get away with it. You think you're invincible. You think you can do anything, because you're Harry fucking Potter, but one day you're going to realize that you said all the wrong words and you're going to have to make a hard choice or someone else will do it for you!"

She wanted to hit him. But she wanted to get away from him even more. Rachel turned around and ran in the direction of her house, her sight obscured by hot tears.

* * *

 _Wednesday, Oct 31  
Hogwarts -11:30 a.m._

Hermione was talking about the Seven Fold Vervion protection. The castle had undergone a major inspection and evaluation over the weekend and its wards were now top notched as everyone claimed. Their third period was a study hour and the trio were holed up in a quiet section of the library trying to tackle their homework while also discussing current events.

"… as a result of the shield's layering, from the trained eye, you can see four or so layers. The rest are invisible but just as powerful. All seven layers can be reinforced at specific points, its customization is very delicate but that's what makes it so preferable! It uses the rune of the unknown so it basically catches the intruder within the layers and send out a signal to the owner that there's been an attempt in the breach."

Ron threw down his pencil in defeat. "Yeah, but someone actually did breach it completely and stole the map. So why wasn't there any sort of alarm then?"

Hermione faltered in her explanation and flitted through the pages of a heavy tome that was open in front of her. Harry stared at his Herbology essay in front of him. The words made no sense. He'd written nonsense. His head was flooded, as usual, with a thousand worries, about DJ, Rachel, Percy and that god-forsaken Skeeter –

"It must have been some kind of unnatural magic. Obviously illegal. The Vervion spell was made to explicitly stop anyone unauthorized from walking in."

"But someone did walk in. Are you saying they were authorized?"

Hermione looked up in contemplation. "That's interesting. Could a student walk through the wards? We are listed under the castle's protections –"

"No." Harry said, speaking up for the first time since morning. Ron and Hermione looked up at him in surprise and hesitation. He wanted to keep speaking, he wanted to scream actually, but said nothing more.

"Oh. Have you tried…?"

He nodded, still looking at his parchment. His handwriting was sloppy, slanting downwards from neglect. Hermione leaned in to look at his essay.

"Would you like me to rewrite this for you?"

"Have you told your parents about what's been happening?"

She sat up immediately. "Not really. They know it's a little tense, but I haven't explained much… about V…Voldemort."

Harry frowned. "If they knew, and if they tried to convince you to leave, what would you do?"

Ron was floored by the discussion. He gaped at Harry and then at Hermione who spoke with a hint of tremor. "I'd try to tell them that I want to stay."

Harry took his time in looking up at her. "Why? They want you to be safe."

"I… I wouldn't want to leave."

"But you'd be in more danger here than in some other country, or something."

"Would I?" She placed his essay back on the table. "Would I really be safe if I was far away from here? Hogwarts is supposed to be the safest place in the world and we've been having problems with security! Somebody was murdered in the village, the wards were breached, and something happened over the weekend that nobody is even clear about."

"That's because Hogwarts is the epicentre for trouble." Harry snapped. "Every year we've been here, we've almost died! You've been petrified once as well. Wouldn't it be the safest thing if you left the country?"

Hermione exhaled in shock. "That's your opinion, Harry. I don't want to leave. And me not wanting to leave doesn't equate to me wanting to get hurt. Let's make that clear."

"There has been talk about people wanting to leave the UK." Ron said. Hermione rounded on him.

"Why are you two ganging up on me?"

"We're not!" Ron exclaimed, holding his hands up. "I mean, I'm not! I was just stating a fact."

She huffed at him and then turning back to Harry. "Why the sudden inquisition?"

Harry sat back, leaning his chair onto its hind legs. "Just… it's a hypothetical situation. If your parents found out about what's been happening lately and they wanted to get you out, why wouldn't you go with them?"

"I've already answered that."

He tried not to sigh. "Fine. But what if it got really bad. What if Voldemort came back to the UK and started to attack people. What if he attacked Hogwarts?"

"Shush!" Ron hissed, looking around, startled.

Hermione pressed her lips together. "I'd fight."

This got even Ron to stare at her in shock. "What?"

"I'd fight."

"You… really? With the Death Eaters?"

"Against them, actually."

"But that's… that's not our job."

"What is our job?" Hermione asked. "Things are getting tense. If I run away, it's one less person to help. Fifth year is when we have career counselling. I've been looking through the pamphlets and there are several job openings in the Ministry, for the DMLE and for the Aurors. Not to mention, when I finish my seventh year, I might just sign up for the Order."

Harry's jaw fell open. In the back of his mind, it didn't seem very shocking. Hermione had always been very ambitious and sharp minded. But to hear her talk about the future so brazenly was a jolt to his own thoughts.

"The…the Order? You'd sign…sign up for the… Order?" Ron stammered.

She narrowed her eyes. "Why not? You don't think I'm up for it, Ronald?"

"No! I mean! You'd be great! But…but what if you get hurt?"

Her shoulders fell. "I might. But I'll get hurt one way or another. If the Death Eaters find me in hiding they'll kill me, if they fight me, they'll try to kill me. It doesn't matter where I am. I'm muggleborn no matter where I go."

Harry latched on to that. "Right! You're muggleborn. You're a witch and you are powerful and can make a difference if you choose to fight!"

"Exactly! I can do that! I have an Elemental Core, I can make a huge difference! But that's my choice to fight, no one should decide for me."

Those words stung Harry. He tried to find his point. "Yeah. But you have magic so you can contribute to the Order. What if you didn't have magic?"

Hermione stared. "Well, then I wouldn't know about any of this, so how would that matter?"

"I mean… say just in case you did know about witches and wizards. And say you wanted to know about us and everything that's happening, but it's too dangerous for you to stay because… well, you wouldn't have any magic."

Hermione was watching him with that smart look. Harry had a sudden feeling that she might be connecting things more than he wanted.

"In that case… it wouldn't be an all or nothing situation. If you want someone with no magic to stay safe, you're going to have to break stuff to make sure that happens. Especially if you and this person don't see eye to eye on the decision."

Harry fell back against the chair. Why couldn't things be simple? Why could she just understand that he was doing it for her own good?

Ron frowned. "Wait. Who exactly are we talking about here?"

Tell them.

It's supposed to be a secret.

DJ already blew that chance.

I don't want them to know.

Why not?

It's not safe for her!

Or it's not convenient for you?

It felt like he was conversing with his reflection. He was glad he wasn't plagued with that recently. Harry looked at Hermione and Ron and they looked back and suddenly, he wanted nothing more than to sit with them by the Black lake, under the Oak tree like they'd done years ago, after a strenuous day of defeating Voldemort or his cronies. He felt his regular, yearly shivers, right under his skin. Thankful he already had his stringent pepper up potion doses, he leaned towards the table to look them in the eye.

"Rachel's a squib." Harry said. Once he really had their attention, he started to talk and then, couldn't stop. He told them about Mantis's suggestion for him to meet her, about her parents, about her connection to Percy, how she helped the demigods in their labyrinth quest, her clear sightedness, their argument and falling out.

* * *

 _Long Island, Wednesday, Oct 31  
Camp Half-Blood -09:00 a.m._

Annabeth hadn't heard from Percy since the meeting. Generally that would mean that he was busy with school, or dealing with the witches and wizards, or something far worse. But yesterday, her nerves had started pricking up rather badly as though there was something that needed deconstructing and she hadn't solved it yet.

She hated it when she had a feeling like that. It would take her days to figure out what was wrong. Sometimes it was petty and other times it was life changing. Annabeth thought about all the vital things she'd had to do over the last few weeks. There was the meeting that had gone better than they'd dared to hope. No one had needed cotton. The problem with Grover was still hanging over their heads. And then there was her aunt, Natalie, dying under mysterious circumstances. Annabeth's dad had gone to visit her uncle Randolph who was less than cordial and nearly kicked Frederick out on principle alone. That part of her family drama would have to wait. She was still dealing with stuff on her mother's side.

Annabeth was still in her cabin, having finished her breakfast and figuring out her schedule for the day when her phone rang. It was an unknown number and she picked it up, irrationally wishing for Grover.

"Hello?"

" _Yes, hello. Is this Mr. Evans?"_ A frail voice answered on the other end. She frowned trying to distinguish the accent. It sounded like English was the speaker's second language.

"No. What's the number you dialed?"

There was slight static before the call was cut. Annabeth threw her phone on her bed and started to swear when the door opened and Stanley walked in.

He stopped at the door, blinking up at her.

"Sorry, Stan." She said. He grinned. "No probs. That's a new one."

"Don't repeat that to anyone."

He saluted her. "One of the dryads is looking for you."

"Is it important?"

"Sounds like it. She was talking about Grover Underwood."

Annabeth dropped the book she'd picked up and rushed towards him. Stanley looked startled. "Was her name Juniper?!"

"I…I don't know! Jeez, Annabeth!"

She ran out of the cabin, leaping over the stream of lava by the climbing wall. Chris and Beckendorf blinked as she zoomed past them but Annabeth stopped only when she reached Juniper's tree.

"Juniper!"

The lithe nature spirit popped out looking like she needed a year's worth of sleep. She held Annabeth's hand and gave a long yawn.

"Gods, what happened?"

"I've been…" Juniper yawned again. "I've been traveling around different forests, looking for him… Percy's right, many trees are falling asleep. I nearly dozed myself."

Annabeth caught on. "Did you find him? Wait, did you go alone? Juni, that would have taken a lot of energy!"

"Annabeth, I'm more than capable. And no, I didn't find him. Grover's asleep, though. I'm positive someone put him and all those forests to sleep."

The demigoddess looked up at the sky. "The hunters told us that, Juni."

"Yeah, but they couldn't tell us anything more! Look, I think a god put them to sleep. The effects were still there, I could feel it when I was in those forests. I almost couldn't come back."

Juniper blinked drowsily. No doubt, she'd used up a lot of magic to leave the camp's forest and search for Grover. Annabeth was looking at her in admiration. "A god put a spell on them. And Grover was caught in it?"

"That's what I was thinking but then I remembered the prophecy!"

Annabeth took only a second to figure it. The Great prophecy about the war and about Percy.

… _and see the world in endless sleep…_

She swore again. "Di immortales! It _is_ the Titans! They're putting all possible contingents out of order! They must have decided that after the battle of the Labyrinth when Harry had gotten the forest to attack back!"

Juniper winced. "What if they could do that to camp as well? What if they put heroes to sleep too? Then there'd be no one to defend against the army."

Annabeth groaned. "How did it take us this long to figure it out? The Crooked One is cutting off our back-ups! The attacks on Atlantis means that Poseidon won't be able to help. These land sleeping spells will put other possibilities out of commission. We need to rely on things they haven't thought of."

Juniper gave another yawn. "Well… at least, we got the witches and wizards out of his way."

"For now… I guess the party would cement that… still, not everyone over there knows about us. It's entirely possible that we'd have to fight some of them… Juniper, go to sleep, you're making me yawn –"

Annabeth froze. She thought back to the meeting when Clovis's drowsiness made them all tired to the point of falling asleep. He had also induced DJ to sleep with a single command. Clovis was an unclaimed demigod, still in the Hermes cabin, but it was obvious who his father was.

It seems Morpheus was not on the side of the Olympians.

* * *

 _Manhattan, Wednesday, Oct 31  
Dynasty Apartments – 1:00 p.m. _

DJ and Nico stepped out of the shadows beside the tall apartment building. Traffic was regular, but no one glanced at the boys who made their way to the gates.

"How d'you know that she'll be here? I thought you said her parents are out of town." Nico asked, shaking up the slight tremors from shadow travelling.

DJ bit his lip. "Today isn't a really good day for her. She'll stay indoors. I can't believe your school has a holiday today. I'm skipping classes for this."

Nico's smile was partially forced. Percy had screwed up something that DJ wanted to fix. Nico had never known DJ to intentionally break rules without coercion from Harry or Percy. This was a first and he needed Nico's help to do it. Ginny knew he was here, in case anything happened and he had to leave.

There was a watchman on the other side who noticed them as they looked through the bars of the gate.

"Hi." DJ chirped. "We want to see Rachel. So if you could, say let us in…?"

The man frowned. "Are you registered?"

DJ looked blank. "Do I have to be?"

The guard held up a writing pad with some paper on it. It had names printed under the date. "Only registered visitors can enter."

"What? This isn't a hospital or an office. It's her house. And I've been here before! We've both been here before. Rachel knows us!"

The man shook his head. "If you're not on the sheet, stay on the street."

Nico stood on his tip toes raised his hand and snapped his fingers, hard. "Our names are on the sheet."

The man frowned. "No, they're not."

"Check again."

"Listen kid, be on your way, the both of you."

Nico sighed. "Sorry. I haven't got a hang of the mist yet. Percy's great at it. And you should see Thalia."

"Percy won't help us and I doubt Thalia even knows Rachel." DJ placed his hands on his hips. He looked up at the eight storied building with its helipad on the top.

"Nico, you're up for another trip?"

"Into the apartment? She's not gonna like that."

"We need to talk to her." DJ wrung his hands and looked both ways of the street.

"Would she even listen? Percy was pretty loud."

"Percy was stupid and so was Harry. I'm not leaving this with her hating us." DJ said and Nico nodded.

"Alright. I'll try –"

"Hey! You two!"

The watchman called them back. They leaned up against gate and the guard pressed a button on the wall of his booth. A voice came over the intercom.

"Hello, Mr. Potter, is that you?"

DJ grabbed the bars of the gate, trying to spot a face on a screen but it was only the voice to which he responded, "Yes! I'm DJ Potter, Rachel's cousin! I was here the Saturday before last!"

"Yes sir, I remember. Choy, please let them in."

"Are you sure Ms. Terri? Mr. and Mrs. Dare were strict about visitors."

"I'm sure. I'll take full responsibility if they ask."

The guard, Mr. Choy shrugged and pressed another button on the wall. There was a short beep and the gate unlocked itself. DJ said, "Thanks Ms. Terri!"

They crossed the driveway and entered the house, having been greeted by a middle aged woman with a severe bun and maid's uniform. She had a kind smile that put them at ease.

"Why'd you let us in?" Nico couldn't help asking.

Ms. Terri suddenly looked nervous. "I confess I have an ulterior motive. Ms. Dare hasn't eaten since last night. She isn't stepping out of her room either. If she doesn't come out by evening, I'm going to have to ring up her parents and I'd rather not do that. If you can get her to have a bit of the lunch, I'd be ever so grateful."

"She hasn't eaten yet!?" DJ hissed.

Ms. Terri gave them a tray of freshly steamed food, straight from the microwave she'd stored it in and they set off for Rachel's room on the seventh floor.

Rachel's door was shut from the inside and they had to knock several times to gain a response.

She was shouting in French. The only French Nico'd ever heard was when Harry swore in the language. He was pretty sure Rachel was using similar words.

"Rachel, it's me!" DJ yelled. "And Nico. It's really important, Rach."

"We have food!" Nico called. Surely, she'd be hungry.

She was. The door opened and Rachel poked her dishevelled head out. Nico gaped. She looked terrible. She had bags underneath her red rimmed eyes and chapped lips like she'd gone for days without water. Her hair was a mess, sticking out into a bunch just like Harry's did when he'd just woken up. Rachel's clothes were also frayed with rips and paints smeared over them. She looked like a hobo.

Rachel grabbed the tray and tried to shut the door but DJ shoved his shoulder to stop it.

"Wait! Ra –"

"Begone!" She yelled.

"We're not leaving till you feel better!"

Rachel stepped aside and DJ fell in from the force he was using. He stood up immediately to meet her eye to eye.

"I'll feel better on my own."

"You don't look it. What's wrong with your eyes? They're gone all…"

Nico squinted, trying to catch her eyes but Rachel turned away, ripping open the bottle to gulp down half its water. He barely stepped into the room when he stopped at the entrance and stared at the mess.

Rachel's room was huge. The mess was a compilation of several balled up sheets of paper, spilled paint tubes, old brushes, broken canvas holders…

Bolt was in the form of a tiger, laying on her bed, tail twitching. The curtains were closed to block out light and the room seemed to smell from the staleness.

DJ walked ahead to survey everything. "Damn! Rachel, what did you do?!"

Rachel gave a snort, inhaling her food. "Dancing."

"With what? A tornado?"

Nico stepped over an upturned canvas. He spotted some clothes lying on the floor as well as though shed tossed it from the dresser.

"Have you been taking medicine?" DJ asked, walking towards her table. He picked up a small container of tablets and read the name out loud, "Equi–Voque? What's it for?"

"To stop the visions."

Nico and DJ stared. "What visions?"

Rachel sat on a chair by the bed and gave a little giggle. Nico hadn't noticed it before, but she now seemed a little disoriented. "I see… seeeeeee. I see a lot!"

She began to laugh, nearly spilling the food. Nico looked at DJ in alarm.

DJ muttered something under his breath and reached for an empty glass bottle on the table. It looked heavy.

"Rachel… this is Vodka."

Nico leaned to look at the label. The fancy script made his stomach turn so he focused on the designs. "Is that liquor?"

"Rachel, did you drink this!?" DJ's voice went high.

She gave them an exaggerated wink. Nico realised that she was absolutely drunk.

"Whoa! I thought you need to drink Vodka in shots." Nico exclaimed.

DJ turned towards him. "How would you know that?"

"I grew up in a casino, DJ. I didn't drink, but I can beat you in Poker."

Rachel laughed again. "We should play sometime."

"Rachel, please tell me you're not drunk."

The red head leaned against the back of the chair and smiled angelically. "I'm not drunk."

"You're crossing your fingers." Nico pointed.

"Oh."

" _Rachel!_ " DJ cried. "You're fifteen!"

"I'm older than you. Listen to your elder, DJ."

"Yeah, well, I'm older than the both of you combined!" Nico said. That fact only made Rachel laugh again. She really looked disconnected. It was a miracle she was still coherent after downing an entire bottle of Vodka. Nico had seen that stuff knock out adults.

"You're so adorable, Neeks." Rachel cooed. "How's your friend?"

He knew who she was asking about and he smiled. "Ash's better. We got some ice and the swelling came down after that."

"That's nice. What about Ward?"

"Er… we haven't heard about him since then. Don't you know?"

"Oh, I didn't go yesterday." She shrugged, picking up a fork and pushing through some of the vegetable on the plate.

DJ grabbed a chair and sat in front of her. He looked extremely serious. "Rachel, look at me."

She groaned. "Gods! You sound like Harry!"

"I'm not Harry."

"Neither am I."

"This is serious. You took tablets and had a bottle of alcohol! How many did you take?"

"Just one."

"One tablet?"

"One bottle."

"You…You drank the whole bottle!"

"It made the pain go away. I always drink after taking the tabletssss." She slurred a little and DJ looked even more worried.

"Merlin and Morgana! You do this regularly!"

Rachel tilted her head till her bound hair tipped and fell on the side, some of the rough locks hanging like dreadlocks. "Only when I have the meds."

"How many tablets did you take?"

"Three."

"Was that the correct amount? You didn't take any more, did you? What did your doctor say?"

"My doctor said I have a vivid imagination. He laughed when I told him about the nine headed water snake."

Nico's blood went cold. She was talking about the Hydra.

DJ looked uncomfortable. "You have strong nightmares, then?"

"Hmmm. Nightmares in the morning… it's like… they're in front of me… but they're in my head… so it's not real for anybody…but I always think I'm gonna die… the meds used to make me black out… but its fine now. I'm normal."

She started to giggle again, hunching herself into a small form, looking rather …terrifying. Nico wanted to move away from the sight.

"They're all so shiny." She sang, tilting the tray. The bottle fell out. Its fall slowed in mid-air and it floated upwards to settle on the table. DJ leaned forwards and took the tray as well, placing it on the numerous papers on the table. Nico could tell that DJ was resisting the urge to clean up the place.

"Rachel… this isn't good."

"Magpie."

"What?"

"It's a riddle…see? I see. You can't but I can."

She leaned backwards again and nearly fell off the chair. Bolt gave a groan from underneath the pillows. Nico wondered if the tiger could feel the drunkenness.

"What Percy said was wrong. He shouldn't have acted like that. Rachel, you're right, none of us were on your side, but now we're listening. We'll get him to apologize –"

"Percy's so ugly!" Rachel's voice came as a bird's chirp, high and musical.

"No, he's not." Nico interrupted.

DJ frowned at him but she continued. "He's so… he's so rotten…on the inside, you know. I'm taking about the insides. Everyone's insides… it's… all gooey. Percy's insides are decaying. I took a knife and checked, they're so rotten."

Nico choked. What did she just say?

Rachel crossed her legs and placed her arms on the sides of the chair, looking like royalty in disguise.

"Your insides are pink and bloody… it's pretty for some and ugly for others. The entrails…that's what it is. I see entrails and I see everything about you. Percy's bad, searching for shiny things and yelling at people and killing them…"

"What?" DJ stood up, extremely upset. "Rachel, stop it."

"What's the magpie riddle? They search for shiny things. That's the magpie riddle."

DJ grabbed her shoulders, trying to shake some sense into her. "Damn it! You shouldn't be drinking, Rachel. You're saying all sorts of nonsense!"

Rachel focused her dilated eyes upon him. Nico shivered. It looked like she really was seeing things.

" _I'm the entrails-reader_." She whispered and DJ snatched his hands away from her as though she'd burned him. He walked backwards, shaking.

Rachel began to laugh again. "Happy Halloween, Potters!"

DJ whipped his wand out and pointed it at her crying, "Aguamenti!"

A jet of water burst out and smacked her in the face. Nico jumped back as Rachel let out a garble and fell to the floor. She didn't hit the ground, rather bounced as DJ threw his arm down, narrowing her eyes. Nico felt the change in the air as his magic pulsed and let a sopping Rachel down, safely.

She spluttered, "What the hell, DJ!?"

"You're freaking me out!"

Rachel grabbed her hair like she wanted to yank it out. "GET OUT!"

"Ra –"

"You don't care! You've never cared! Get out!"

"Rachel, calm down!" Nico shouted.

She pressed her head to the floor and then raised it to glare at Nico. "Don't even try to use the mist on me! It doesn't work."

DJ fell to his knees by her side. "I'm sorry, I was just trying to help. I swear."

"I don't believe you."

DJ looked stunned. "I…I'm telling the truth. I never wanted to hurt you, Rachel. But you just drank a litre of bloody vodka, what the hell was that about?!"

She closed her eyes and gave a sob. "It was so loud. I just wanted it to be quiet. The meds help."

Nico sighed in defeat. At least, she'd calmed down. But the revelation she'd given was still startling.

DJ's shoulders slumped. "You get visions. How often?"

"A lot. I… I don't know how real they are. Sometimes they're in dreams or nightmares. Sometimes they happen during school and I can't focus on class. Sometimes, I'm sketching things I've never seen before. Sometimes I'm bleeding but there's no wound and I can never control it! The meds help. I can be normal with them. But they make my head ache and I need to drink."

DJ looked like he wanted to cry with her. Nico stepped forwards and knelt in front of her. "Have you ever told this to anyone?"

She gave a shaky chuckle. "So. Many. Times."

"The muggle doctors won't understand, Rachel!" DJ whispered. "Look, we can get a Healer to look at you. They'll explain better!"

"But I'm not a witch. I don't have magic, just craziness."

"You're not crazy." DJ said firmly. "You've never been crazy. Look, Lily Potter had visions too! You just inherited."

"But she was a witch!"

"May be it's not connected! May be it's a different kind of power! Some muggles could be sensitive to magic and could react differently. Like… squibs can see dementors, other muggles, can't! That shows it's never a clear divisions. Someone is classified a witch or wizard when they have enough magic that can conjure spells. We have different gradients of power levels. Some are really powerful and some are barely passable."

Nico saw a change come in Rachel. Her tense shoulders settled by a fraction and she looked up at DJ, still soaking wet.

"It's a spectrum?"

"Yeah! That's the perfect way to put it!" DJ placed his hands on his knees. "There are different levels to have a magical core. So, in this case. You might not have a core, but could still have something in your blood, in your essence that has the potential to … to…"

"I have the gene." She said. "My kids could be a witches and wizards."

"Right! So squibs are still different to muggles, you'll react better to magic."

"But I have something! Some kind of power, if not magic, by your definition."

"Right…" DJ tried to think up of something while Nico added, "You're clear sighted, right? That's again different to mortals who can't see through the mist. But that's not all, you can see better than demigods and witches and wizards. So maybe you're just different to everyone. You have a different kind of power and just because we don't have a word for it, doesn't mean it doesn't exist."

Rachel was watching him carefully. "Labels don't determine everything."

"Right! Exactly!" DJ crowed. "I'm sorry that you're having so much trouble with your visions, Rachel. Nobody should go through that."

Bolt shifted on the bed, turning around to rest her head beside Rachel's. The girl sat up against her bed and burped. "Excuse me."

Nico sniggered.

DJ stood up and reached for the bottle of tablets. "This Equi–Voque sounds really familiar. It stops your visions?"

"Yeah."

"But it gives you a headache?"

"Yeah."

DJ reached for the bottle's cover which contained the same designs and title. "I swear this looks like a rune."

Nico looked up from the floor. The logo on the tiny box was like an anagram with a stylized E and a V. It didn't look like a magical letter to him. But DJ was having a calculating look, similar to Stanley's thinking expression.

"Rach, mind if I take the cover and check it out. May be the dosage is too strong."

"Whatever." She mumbled.

"Are you feeling better?" Nico asked her. Rachel gave a groan as she tried to stand.

"I want to die."

"That's not funny." DJ said, sharply. "Don't say stuff like that."

"You think I just jinxed myself? You know what, you came here and said what you wanted to say. Can you go, please? I'm just gonna sleep for the week."

Nico watched as she fell on her bed, nearly sitting on Bolt's head.

"I don't want us to stop being friends, Rachel. That's why I came here." DJ said quietly.

She raised her head. There was a lively look of shock.

"What did you say?"

"I came here –"

"You said 'friends'. Why'd you say that?" She sat up again, this time evaluating him for any weaknesses. Nico blinked.

DJ looked surprised too. "Because I thought that what we were? Weren't we?"

"Friends? That's what you assumed?" She was about to laugh but Nico saw her catch herself. "Why not family? Shouldn't that be first priority?"

DJ raised his arms and dropped them, a half heated shrug. "Family's too… it's not the right word. Having friends is better than a complicated family."

She raised her eyebrows and even Nico stared at him. "Why d'you say that? Family's supposed to be the be all and end all of relationships. You're not supposed to cross family for anything not even for romantic relationships."

"Even dysfunctional families?" DJ smiled like he knew more than them. Nico frowned. I thought we were a family. The four of us and Sally, Sirius and Remus…"

DJ walked towards the chair and sat on it, facing them. "I grew up in an orphanage. Since no one there had their own families… we _became_ one."

He made air quotes with the word. "The thing about families is that anything goes. You can hurt your 'brothers' and 'sisters', you can prank your 'parents' to the point of them crying, you can do the worst of evils and still be excused for it if you did it for family. I never liked it. That's not an excuse to hurt people. People insult your mother to insult you, they use the token of a familial relationship to try and get to you, that's how the world works. And it's wrong. Because no matter how much of a twisted idea of a family you're all functioning on, you're still considered a unit and nobody does anything to fix the actual problems."

DJ threw his hands up. "But that won't work for friends. If you're a bad friend, you're not worth it. You can cut ties and everyone understands. Nobody will excuse you if you choose to estrange yourself from an abusive family. People blame that person for not trying harder. I've seen it happen a hundred times. One of our caretakers at the orphanage, this thirty year old woman, she's the nicest person ever, but her family always blames her for all the problems. When I asked her why she doesn't leave them, she says that's not something she could do to them. Even with all the pain they make her go through, she thinks she has to bear that burden because of the family tag. That's not right.

"You have to work harder if you're a friend. It feels more genuine. May be you don't believe that, but that's something I prefer. I like thinking Harry as my brother, but if we were actually friends, we'd have a different understanding of each other."

Nico sat up slowly. "You're talking about the cons of family. There are a lot of positive points too."

"People always talk about the pros. I'd like to think that a friend can be just as important as a family, may be even more."

Rachel stayed quiet for the speech. When he looked at her, she replied. "Your example about the caretaker being abused by her family… that's because they think the woman should suffer in silence and sacrifice for the family to remain stable. That's a point against the institution of family."

DJ frowned. "Are you supporting me?"

"In a way. It's an interesting thought. I see my family as important. My parents mean everything to me."

Nico thought about that. He was sure his mother would have felt the same about him, but what about Hades? He'd always been cool and distant to the point of terrifying.

But Bianca was close. She would always be the most important thing in the world.

And Percy and Stanley and Sally, Gil, Ash, Denise, DJ, Harry…

"You're an okay friend, though." Rachel told DJ, who grinned in relief. She looked at Nico and said, "You're cool too."

"Thanks. Back at ya."

Rachel smiled.

"But I still hate the other two."

"With good reason." DJ said immediately. Then a strange look came on his face. "Say… Rachel, if I hosted a party…would you be interested in coming?"

* * *

 _West Ireland, Wednesday, Oct 31  
Cliffs of Moher – 07:00 p.m._

Percy was too tired to sleep. Well, that was good because he didn't have time to rest. He was just discovering that Irish winter set in fast than American winter. It wasn't a fun lesson.

"Do you have all the questions?" Tom asked, standing unflinchingly in the biting cold. The wind blew frigid arctic spray over Percy and the water should help him, but it felt like it wasn't.

 _Yeah_ , he thought, not trusting his teeth to chatter and fall. Tom shot a look of steel at him. Percy rubbed his hands together, unable to stop from hunching over himself.

"And do you know what to do after that?"

 _Yeah._

There was a sleepy little giggle issuing from their hostage. Percy faced the woman tied to a stalagmite. They were at the entrance of a rough cave, facing the open seas. It was no place for anyone to linger, least of all a prisoner of Azkaban that had been exposed to dementors for nearly fourteen years.

Even so, Percy didn't feel so much sympathy for Bellatrix Lestrange. He knew what she'd done. While he wasn't so happy about the situation of her being their prisoner now, he wasn't all that cut up about it. Besides, it wasn't like they were about to leave her alive.

Percy tried to gather some warmth by stamping his feet. He dropped his hands, sucked up non-existential courage and snapped his fingers in front of her waxy, sickly face. Lestrange's dark, demented eyes opened. She looked up at him, tilting her head exactly the way Tom would do to put him on edge. She would make a brilliant mega villain, Percy thought.

"Well, hello there. How nice to have visitors?" She purred.

"I have some questions for you."

"Won't you sit down? I'll whisk us a hot drink."

Percy nearly bit his tongue off, grating his teeth and staring her down. Lestrange's glee dimmed.

"Round like a circle, deep like a …" Percy waited for her to fill in the blank. Tom let out a noise of disgust and Lestrange only looked confused.

Right… they're not on top of muggle riddles…

"I'd like a nice shiny, golden cup, do you know where I can find one?"

Recognition sparked in her eyes and Percy braced his hands on the rocks as Tom swooped in and looked through her memories.

Flashes of cold, violence, pain, screams, joy – sadistic joy, and mad laughter rung about Percy's head. He saw thousands of scenes fly by and was glad to skip them all. Tom isolated the one they needed and Percy caught a glimpse of a slim, gold cup with two handles on the sides opposite each other. The cup was beside other gold items, on a top shelf of a dark room…no… vault.

Lestrange gasped as Tom withdrew, muttering to himself and Percy caught hold of a word.

"Gringotts? Are you serious?" He groaned.

Lestrange started to screech. Her voice was broken like her larynx had been torn some time back. Percy jerked away from her, clapping his hands over his ears. She was saying something. She was cursing him.

"Kill her." Tom said, dispassionately.

Percy sighed. He took out Riptide and cut her ropes. Lestrange struggled to move away, still shrieking on her hands and knees. Tom looked away, bored and Percy acted quickly, raising the level of the water. The sea opened up, caught her legs and dragged her underneath.

Lestrange thrashed in the rough waves, but there was no way she could escape it with no strength and no magic. Within seconds, the cold water relaxed and her body floated, face down by the cliffs to their side.

"They shouldn't find her body."

"They won't."

"I'll know if you lie to me.

You won't.

* * *

 **Stay tuned… I'll try to introduce an old character in the next chapter.**

 **Q: Which character do you think had it worst in the Potter world?**

 **Cabba.**


	36. The road is never smooth

**A: I personally thought it was Merope Gaunt. She had no support and resorted to criminal ways to gain a bit of happiness. She is victimized and a perpetrator so there's no straight forward way of consoling her. But several people in the HP world had it terrible – Sirius, Dobby, Regulus, Ginny, Harry, Malfoy…**

 **Catie Cat – Yeah, I did. I'm not going to write anything about Magnus Chase. I can't include all that. So, the reference is just to indicate how that world is going in comparison to this one. It's happening, but not at the forefront to my series.**

 **Sherlock Harry Winchester – He is getting carried away. Tom's going to end up twisting him away from everyone… or at least, trying to.**

 **toshiro11 – Twelve years in Azkaban is no cakewalk. Good answer.**

 **Note: I'm swamped with work, so the next update will be in March. I'm going to finish this series no matter how long this takes me. But for the next few months, updates will be irregular. And it will definitely extend over 40 chapters.**

 **Listening to – All the Stars by Kendrick Lamar and SZA**

* * *

 _London, Friday Nov. 2,  
Lawyers' offices, 10:30 a.m._

If Sirius was having a busy week, it was nothing compared to how bad today was. He'd woken up in the morning to Tonks' rants about Rita Skeeter churning out false and exaggerated reports on the Order of the Phoenix. It was unfortunate that the Order's existence had been revealed in the first place, but this was escalating.

Sirius had spent the morning browsing through all the articles she'd published and none of them had a smidge of decency in them. The thing that really made him boil had been the commentary on Harry's trauma and his love life. Sirius had barely stopped from ripping the magazine in half.

The moment he was ready, he'd flooed to Kettler's office but was asked to wait outside. Lawrence Kettler was one of his most trusted attorneys. He'd solve it, Sirius was sure.

The Animagus sat on one of the seats in the waiting area, leg bouncing and hands crushing the offending tabloid. He could hear the murmurs from within the main office, which was apparently occupied by several people at the moment. Sirius's temper was being tested as the minutes ticked by.

Finally, the door opened and a sea of people filed out. He caught the sight of Kettler, a tall and beardless man in deep brown and black robes. Kettler navigated his protruding stomach out of the crowd with care and heaved a great sigh when he caught Sirius's impatient form.

"Mr. Black." He greeted him. "This is an inopportune time for all of us."

"Busy morning, eh, Kettler? I can guess. Have you seen this?" Sirius held up the glossy magazine, Witch Weekly.

"I apologize, I haven't delved into certain material for a while now." Kettler looked back at the office, probably wondering about the higher up lawyers who were still inside. Sirius groaned.

"I want Rita Skeeter blackballed from everything! Newspapers, books, magazines, even the pretty little party pamphlets they give out for birthdays! She can't write stuff like this! Harry is underage! Hermione and Percy aren't even anywhere near this! She just goes and spins stories after one conversation with them! I want to file a lawsuit on her!"

Kettler read the article she'd written. He frowned and the wrinkles in his forehead went deeper with every paragraph. Sirius waited, not too patiently. Someone had started yelling inside the office.

"She's clearly been funded by these offices." Kettler explained. "I can write up a draft on her baseless information attack on your ward… there's no problem about that. But people have tried this before, Skeeter will just exercise the freedom to speech right. The statement would rule in your favour, but it will be a drawn out process, she knows what to do and what loopholes to utilize."

"I have gold." Sirius said, point blank.

"Time is also important." The lawyer intoned. He turned around to look at the office. "That's going to be in the papers tomorrow."

"Who's throwing a tantrum in there?"

"Barty Crouch."

Sirius did a double take. "Crouch? Senior?"

"That's the one."

"Shit." Sirius stared at the office door wishing he could see that meeting. Crouch had been missing just before the third task of the TriWizard Tournament. They'd found him, using the map and last Sirius had heard, he'd been admitted in St. Mungo's indefinitely.

"I didn't even know he'd been released." He mumbled.

Kettler nodded. "This morning, I'd heard. He came straight from the hospital. But I know for a fact that he'd been sending letters almost daily for more than a week to Stanford. Ever since the news came that his son had been discovered in the cellar of Zonko's…"

Sirius raised a hand to his face pressed the bridge of his nose. "Merlin! Not that I have much sympathy for him, but he can't seem to catch a break, can he? After the repeated Imperiusation and being imprisoned by his son and finding out Junior went back to Voldemort and had been impersonating Mad Eye and then was murdered… not a happy life."

Kettler was about to respond when his eyes widened. Sirius heard a hated noise from behind him. "Ahem Ahem."

He swore in his mind. Turning around, he saw Umbridge of all people, standing right behind him in a pink shawl and noisy little heels. Her face twisted into what she must have thought was a smile and she looked up at Sirius. "Your callousness is astounding, Mr. Black. Wouldn't it be interesting for certain people to find out how little respect you have for Barty Crouch Senior, the man, as you've so astutely pointed out, who has been suffering for quite some time now?"

Sirius raised his eyebrows. "You must forgive me, Madam Umbridge. I rarely sympathize with those who have sent me to Azkaban without a trial and let me be imprisoned there for twelve years based on virtually no evidence."

The smile vanished from her face which made him smirk. "You would fault him for a mistake, then?"

"Mistakes are when you engorge a slug. I would categorize this as a blunder that nearly caused me my life. How's the teaching going on, Professor? It is a weekday, is it not? You must have a class right now."

She stood up straight and wrinkled her nose as though Sirius were nothing but a half crushed spider.

"I am here on the Minister's orders to escort Mr. Crouch safely back to the Ministry."

Right on time, the door banged open and Barty Crouch stamped out, followed a furious red faced man who must have been Stanford de Leuze, head attorney of the entire establishment. Kettler and Sirius wordlessly stepped aside as Umbridge simply looked at Crouch with no emotion.

"Yes, Ms. Umbridge?" Crouch said, looking as though he would have preferred to use another term.

Sirius pressed his lips together to stop from smiling. Umbridge did not look happy.

"Madam, if you would. Cornelius Fudge asks to meet with you, Mr. Crouch. If you would follow me –"

"I have urgent business to attend, _Madam_ Umbridge. The Minister will have to wait –"

"May I remind you, Mr. Crouch!" She began with a high pitch voice that made them all wince. "You've been charged with the crime of housing your late son from the law. If you do not comply, you will be arrested on the spot. The Minister has offered to listen to your statement which will determine the date for your trial later on."

Crouch looked enraged. Sirius noted that he looked less meticulous than last seen. His greying hair was uncombed, his moustache was bristly, and his face featured sunken eyes and heavy bags underneath. His clothes were unkempt as well, but none of it detracted the energy he exuded. Sirius wondered if the man would hex Umbridge. He definitely seemed to be contemplating it.

"Yes… I would like to have a chat with Cornelius." If Crouch could say it in a mocking tone, he did. Sirius and Kettler stared as he then walked ahead of Umbridge in a fast pace that she had to jog to catch up.

"I don't know who to hate more." Sirius muttered.

Kettler shook his head. "What did he want, Stanford?"

Stanford wiped the sweat off his brow with a handkerchief that was as pale as he was. "His account at Gringotts had been frozen. He was here to negotiate it, trying to get me to file a complaint."

Sirius stared. "Crouch does realize that there were a few laws broken when he didn't tell anyone that his son was alive?"

Stanford shook his head. "He seems to believe that it can be tided over. I don't understand… he isn't who he was before. The old Crouch would never have stood for a blatant flouting of rules."

"The Imperius must have messed him up." Kettler decided.

Sirius nodded. "Sure. Lawrence… the complaint?"

Kettler nodded. "I'll send it on Monday. But… I suppose I'll tell you now. I'm taking leave starting next Thursday."

Sirius blinked. "What? Why?"

Kettler looked a little uncomfortable. "Well… are you… aware of my file?"

It wasn't clear which file he was talking about. Sirius frowned, trying to think of any remarkable paper that stood out when he recalled the first time he'd met Lawrence Kettler. The man had helped him get all his lands and moveable assets back within a shorter time than expected. He didn't act star struck when helping out with Harry and DJ's adoption papers and his demeanour made Sirius believe that the world had changed for the better.

One reason why Kettler had enough time on his hands that he didn't seem to be too overworked was because a certain part of the population avoided hiring him. Apparently, a transgender man who worked with people's finances, life and work situations and the like, was off putting for some idiots.

Sirius hadn't found a problem in Kettler's personal life that interfered with what he did. So what if he hadn't transitioned? The man had made it very clear that his pronouns were he/him/his and that he was, for absolutely all intents and purposes, a male.

"Which file, exactly, Kettler?" Sirius asked, not wanting to make a mistake.

"The one that has details about my biology."

"Yeah, I still haven't understood why you have to show clients that. You're a bloke."

Kettler smiled. "Yes, I am. I'm applying for leave because Mark and I have decided to start a family."

Stanford leaned in. "Mr. Black, I can have your work covered. I will take over Lawrence's in-tray, myself."

Sirius gaped. Then he looked down at Kettler's stomach. "Holy…! Are you saying…?"

Kettler went red. "Er…yes. I will definitely submit the complaint on Skeeter which Stanford will handle from there. You can still keep in touch, there will be no problems."

"Blimey!" Sirius held out his hand to shake Kettler's. "That's fantastic, Lawrence! You're going to get pregnant! You're gonna have a kid! I'll send a gift basket!"

* * *

"Bianca! Have you heard?" Nico called. The IM flickered under poor resolution. Nico frowned and debated throwing another drachma when she came into view properly.

"About what?" Her hair looked windblown and Nico guessed the hunters were camping atop a mountain or a cliff side, whichever was more dangerous.

"The party. DJ's been talking to Annabeth during the weekend."

Bianca frowned. "DJ?"

"Yeah, you know? Harry's cousin."

"Oh. The kid who fainted."

Nico sighed. "Please don't tell him that."

"Why? Is it going to crush his fragile ego?"

"Bi, please. He's working real hard. We're planning to clear all the rooms in the mansion to make space for everyone. We figure fifty is a good number of people to house there for the day."

Bianca smiled. "Alright. Annabeth did call. Some of us are interested."

Nico sat up. He was in his room in the Jacksons' apartment. Percy wasn't there, which wasn't a strange thing anymore. He skipped school, didn't go to camp or come home for days. Nico, as did everyone, guessed that he was searching for Grover. Anytime Nico did lay eyes on him, Percy seemed to wilt right before his eyes. There was a sick pallor about him and he looked like he hadn't sleep properly in days. He was also starting to lose his appetite, something which made Sally very nervous.

Just last night, Percy had come home late, shivering as though he'd walked through snow. Sally asked him of his whereabouts, Percy tried to dodge the question which resulted in an argument of frustration. She didn't actually raise her voice at him, but it was just as bad. Percy had retired, slamming the door behind him and Sally had taken Nico aside and had coached him on where all the inhalers and epi-pens were in the house and how to use them for Percy. Hopefully, he wouldn't need it.

"R…right." Nico said. "Um… Bi?"

"Yeah?"

"What…what d'you remember about mom?"

Bianca stared, eyes growing wide for a moment before she exhaled. "Not enough… it's never enough, Nico. Ma was strong and smart and brave. She'd tell us stories to fall asleep. She liked bitter gourd. Her favourite animal was wolves, she once wore a dress that showed her knees and got grounded for it."

She looked away into the distance. "I don't remember much else, Nico. But from what I can recall, is that she loved us and would have done everything she could for us."

Nico felt wistful. "That's more than what I remember. I don't even know what she looks like."

Bianca looked at him through the grainy screen. "Nico…that number you gave me, is it just yours? Or do you share that cell with someone?"

"My phone? No, it's just for me. Ms. Jackson said better safe than sorry. I use it only for emergencies."

"Good then. Look, I'll send you a link to… something. Don't tell anyone about this!"

"What link?" Nico leaned to the side and opened the top drawer. His phone was switched off like it usually was. He picked it up and looked back at her.

"I'll find a phone to use. Remember, you can't tell anyone about this."

"I won't. What are you gonna send?"

Bianca looked around, probably scanning for eavesdroppers or any other hunters too close. Satisfied with her surroundings, she leaned in and whispered. "The Underworld has a website called the _Accorded Judgement Registry_. It lists all mortals, the judged dead. If you type in Ma's name, you'll see a photo of hers and see where exactly in Elysium she is!"

Nico gasped and dropped the phone on his bed. "You can do that!? I know Charon has that connection, but did dad give it to you too?"

Bianca gave a half awkward shrug. "Er…something like that. Charon has the _Awaiting Judgement Registry_. That's for unjudged dead and the living. Look, don't use this too often, you don't want dad catching you. I mean, he's not gonna do anything… or he might… He hasn't been in the best of moods lately."

"What about? Is it the Titans?"

She leaned back and the IM flashed a little. Nico dropped a drachma quickly and the window reinforced itself. It still looked grainy though.

"The Titans are always in the back of our minds… but there's been other problems. Like this, the Iris Messages are starting to fail. Yesterday, none of us could IM anybody. We tried calling camp and Olympus, it just wouldn't go through."

Nico frowned. "Stanley from camp told me that a lot of things are malfunctioning. His tab is not holding charge anymore, the Hephaestus Cabin's projects are starting to go down. Electronics are starting to lose power. Remember that bronze dragon Beckendorf was trying to fix?"

"Oh goddesses, what happened to it?"

"Well, it started to throw up oil…"

Bianca winced. "Clearly a lot of minor deities are starting to switch over to the Titans. Lady Artemis was convinced that Morpheus, and even Prometheus is on their side."

Nico, who'd been acing his Introductory Class on Greek History, blanched. "Prome… him too? But… I thought he'd be with us?"

Bianca looked very serious. "He sided with the Gods in the first Titanomachy, but after uncle Zeus punished him…"

Nico leaned against the wall, already starting to feel burdened. Everyone knew that the war would commence during Percy's sixteenth birthday. August felt like a long time away, but not long enough to make him feel safe. He thought back to the battle of the Labyrinth and held back a shudder. That had been the worst day of his life.

* * *

"Goldstein!" Harry called, catching up to Anthony Goldstein who'd been standing in the Arithmancy section of the library. It had just occurred to Harry that he could get the puzzle of the slip of paper that the kid from Mantis's clinic had given him.

Goldstein turned around, mildly surprised. He held a stiff book in his arms which had the words _New Theory of Numerology_ engraved in silver on a black cover.

"Morning, Potter? Say, can I ask something? It's about… the campers." He whispered the last part and Harry looked around to catch anyone eavesdropping before nodding and leaning in.

Goldstein looked a little nervous. "It's not as though… I hate them or anything… but… they kinda give you the creeps, don't they?"

Harry muttered. "That's just your instincts telling you that they're new. You'll get over it."

"Still…"

"Could you help me?" Harry asked, interrupting him.

"What about?"

He showed Goldstein the piece of paper with the short phrase. The Ravenclaw narrowed his eyebrows and tilted his head to look at it better.

"Can you translate it?" Harry was hopeful.

Goldstein raised an eyebrow. "I'm Japanese, Potter. Not Korean."

"It's Korean?"

"Yeah. And they're very different countries, mind you."

"Alright. Sorry, I didn't know what language it was."

"S'okay. I only recognize it from all the K-drama my cousin watches. At least… I'm sure it's Korean." Goldstein frowned at the words. "You can ask Ji Seok. He's a sixth year, I think. Slytherin bloke, not too bad. Or Dae Iseul, she was at the first meeting actually."

"Greengrass's friend, right?" Harry said, trying to recall the face next to Astoria Greengrass during the meeting in the castle to gather allies for the demigod secret. It wasn't easy because the most vivid memory of that day had been him coughing up a pint of chemical tasting water out of absolutely nowhere.

He suppressed a shudder recalling that.

"Yeah. She's in the Gobstones club. You can catch her now if it's an emergency." Goldstein gave a shrug, placing his book into a space in the shelf in front of them. "So, who's writing you mystery Korean notes?"

"Er…nobody. Just this kid… somewhere… I'll see you around."

"Sure."

Harry was about to leave the library when Ginny's voice issued from the reference section. He stopped for a moment and saw her waving her arm, beckoning him.

The first set of thoughts that flew through his head made him feel glad that Bolt was no longer his familiar. She would have held it over him for eternity. Ginny was wearing muggle clothes, a plain t-shirt and denim, yet it gave her a casual style that made her look hot. Harry felt his face and neck grow warm.

Harry walked past the last shelves and found Ginny with DJ, huddled around the small table that had been set for the older students to work at. Currently, there were no older students, instead, there was a small misty opening in mid-air through which Harry could see Percy and Nico.

The Iris Message didn't look too good. It kept flickering like it could dissolve at any moment.

Percy looked furious, Nico was hesitant, DJ was red faced, and Ginny was tight lipped.

"What happened?" Harry asked.

Percy scoffed. "Why don't you ask genius over there?"

He gestured to DJ who huffed.

"What did you do?"

DJ turned and glared at Harry. "Look who's talking! I went and fixed something that the two of you (he pointed to Harry and then to Percy) messed up!"

"Keep your voice down!" Ginny hissed.

Harry frowned and took a look at Nico who avoided his gaze. "Would you enlighten me … is this about Rachel?"

"Of course it is!"

"DJ went and told her about the party and what's more? He invited her!" Percy complained.

Harry's voice cracked. "W…what?!"

"Shush!" Ginny whispered.

DJ folded his arms. "I did."

It took him ten seconds to realise that this wasn't exactly what Harry had hoped for. "Wait… you're telling me you…"

"Yeah, I told Rachel everything, about the meetings, the whole situation –"

"He didn't leave anything out." Percy said, in a tone that was so sharp and tight it could have replaced a piano wire.

Harry pressed the base of his palms against his eyes. "DJ… how did you get there?"

Percy turned and glared at Nico who ducked his head, very penitent.

"Alright, cut that out!" Harry snapped at Percy. "Fine, they called her to the party, there's nothing wrong with that."

"So, what? You're gonna go and uninvite her?"

"No, we're going to go ahead with it anyway."

Percy blanched. "Wh…you're supposed to be on my side!"

Harry grabbed a chair and sat right in front of the IM. "Percy, I have news for you. One, you look like you just died."

It was true. There was a strange sickly look about Percy. The first glimpse would have given the assumption that he had a head cold and needed a long nap. But the more Harry stared at him, the worse he seemed to be. His knees kept bouncing with unrestrained energy, just in the frame of the IM window, he kept clenching and unclenching his fists, his shoulders shook with either what could have been a fever or actual anger. So, he didn't actually look like a corpse, but more like an out of control, sick patient.

"Two, you need to get some rest and eat something. And three, we have to go over there and apologize to Rachel."

Percy gave him a look that suggested he thought Harry was losing it.

"Are you serious? This isn't the time for jokes."

"I'm not joking."

"We're not involving her. You didn't even want her anywhere near this in the first place!"

Percy leaned forwards waiting for his reply. Harry hesitated. DJ was looking at him too. Ginny was standing right beside him and he could feel the heat of her body. Nico was looking at Percy, though.

There was something odd there. Nico wasn't looking directly at him… no, his gaze went right through Percy.

"I change my mind." Harry said, wondering if there really was something very wrong with Percy. It was uncharacteristic of him to push anyone away with explanation. "I can't just ostracize her."

"Nobody's ostracizing anyone! She won't be safe!"

"Won't be safe from us?" DJ asked, blinking. "From you? Who is the danger here, Percy? If she's at the party, who is supposed to be a danger to her? The point of the party, Percy, is that we can work with each other. Which means, adding someone who's a little different shouldn't be hazardous, but should only increase chances of cooperation!"

"Unlike what Umbridge's stupid book says…" Ginny snorted. "The diversity would help. Especially since people at camp know her."

"Yeah, but nobody at the castle knows her! Harry, come on! What would happen if it got out that she's alive?" Percy insisted. "That's not going to be easy to sort through!"

Harry winced. Nico raised his chin and muttered. "He told Ron and Hermione."

Percy gaped. DJ said, "No, I told them."

"And I explained everything." Harry added. "They know as much as we do now."

There was a beat of silence before DJ threw his hands wide and crowed, "Hug?"

Harry glared at him. He backed away immediately and Ginny stifled a giggle.

Percy, on the other hand, looked stunned. He had the expression of a guy who had been betrayed and left to die. This exaggerated look made Harry want to reach through the IM and knock some sense into him. They didn't have the time to be overdramatic about this.

"Harry, for the gods' sakes! You already have a therapist to blabber to, why'd you have to tell anyone else?!"

DJ choked and Nico swivelled his head to stare at Percy, moving away from him. Ginny inhaled in shock while Harry stopped breathing altogether.

It dawned on Percy the very next second. "Oh my gods! Harry, I'm so sorry! I can't believe I said that! I didn't mean –"

"Get some sleep."

"Really! I swear I didn't mean– "

"Just go to sleep!" Harry cut across, harshly. "We'll talk tomorrow, I'm coming over. The four of us are going to plan the entire thing then. I don't know what the hell is wrong with you now, but we're gonna fix it."

He cut the call and got up, ready to storm out but DJ caught the sleeve of his robes.

"DJ, I'm not in the mood –"

"Are you angry with me?"

Ginny grabbed a book that had been on the table and left the section, giving them some privacy. Harry looked away from her retreating form and watched as DJ stood to his full height. He came up to Harry's chin now. The growth spurts were just kicking in.

"Not… at you." Harry sighed. "It's just that Rachel gave me a proper lashing. It was scary, to be honest."

DJ looked sympathetic. "She was upset and I guess we were all pushing her. It's… she wasn't doing well, Harry. She has visions."

Harry frowned. "I think she told me that. She dreams about stuff –"

"No, not like that. Proper visions like a Seer! She says it gets so bad that she sometimes takes medicines for it. Equal something. Equivocal or… something, I need to check it."

Harry was sure she'd told him this before. He couldn't recall it at the moment. One of the more frustrating things about having memory loss what that Harry was never sure what he'd forgotten and how important it was.

"She has some kind of magic, Harry." DJ said, his voice now soft. "It's our job to help her understand it. Since she can't go to a school to learn about it, we have to do something about it. We owe her that much."

It made more sense that way. Harry imagined having strange powers no matter how underrated and inconsequential, it still was a part of her life. Lily used to have visions. Rachel had simply inherited them. If there was anybody at fault, it was Harry for blocking her access to getting the help she needed.

Harry looked at DJ with a smile. "You broke the rules by going over there to see her."

"Yeah… it's your fault."

"Ha!"

"No, seriously. You're a bad influence on me. I would never actually do anything so illegal!" DJ gave a mock gasp. "Everyone would think you had a hand in it!"

Harry brought him down into a headlock. DJ struggled for a moment before letting out a loud, "MS. PINCE!"

"Tattler!"

* * *

Neville was the most attentive which was saying something since Hermione had read quite a lot in preparation of the Defense classes. Professor Abitu, as masqueraded by Alice Longbottom, stood in room 420 in front of at least a hundred students who'd signed up for the course. Harry looked over at crowd and decided that in any case, the students would learn more than Lockhart's tries which was barely anything.

Luckily, Alice knew her stuff. She was firm and understanding in her mode of teaching, being able to walk over the line that divided teacher's authority and respecting her class. Harry had never seen Neville pick up anything so fast unless it was Herbology. He'd been growing ever since he'd gotten the news that his parents had woken up from their madness, months ago.

A part of Harry wanted the Longbottoms to know that it was through camp's help, or rather, through Mr. D's magic that the cure had been possible. It would definitely help strengthen demigod-wizard ties. On the other hand, Harry really didn't want to Neville to think him odd for withholding the news. May be it was better to just let things be the way they were for the time being.

"Mr. Turner and Ms. Chang will now demonstrate a traditional duel setting. Remember chapter two of the text. The moment you announce the duel and face your opponent, keep your guard up at all times."

Abitu had her hands on her hips, directing Marcus and Cho. A lot of the students were taking notes, Ron was beside Hermione just staring up at them in anticipation. The last few classes had been purely theoretical. Everyone was eager for a practical demo.

"Hey." Ginny's quiet voice made him flick his wand out. He held it in as he tried to relax when he'd identified her, standing right next to him.

"Hey." Harry looked back at the Head Boy and Ravenclaw seeker bowing towards each other. He hadn't talked to Ginny properly since she'd rejected him. That had been a hard vial to gulp.

"Vane's looking at you."

He stared at her, confused. Ginny's eyes flickered towards the left of the crowd and Harry turned to spot Romilda Vane, quickly averting her gaze to focus on the duel which had begun. The sudden flashes of spells took in everyone's attention.

"I don't know if you've heard…" Ginny whispered quickly, "But she's planning to slip you a love potion."

"She already did." Harry whispered back. His eyes were fixed on the fighters. Marcus had a good shield which he controlled wandlessly while he threw spells at Cho. She was faster, though, dodging most and firing back some of her own. But Cho was tiring faster.

Ginny muttered, "Oh. Alright."

She moved to leave him, but Harry said, "Wait! Thanks for the warning though."

"Sure. I mean, I just heard it yesterday, so I thought she might wait for a bit before… you know…"

Harry frowned. Romilda had given him a pack of Brazilian Chocolate Frogs weeks ago. Would she try again?

"What the hell's her problem?" he mumbled to himself. Ginny heard it.

"Why don't you tell on her?"

Harry's retort died on his lips when he saw her smirk. "What are you planning?"

"What makes you think I have a plan?"

"You have that look on your face that reminds me of Fred and George when they come up with an idea."

Ginny batted her eyelashes at him. "You flatter me, Harry."

Harry swallowed staring at her. "Yeah… so, what's the plan?"

"Oh you know… accidentally distribute stuff she gives you to different people… or sneak the potion into someone else's goblet."

"That sounds harmful."

Ginny's smile dropped. "Yeah, it does… sorry, it's just… that's not why I really wanted to talk to you."

Cho shot a leg locker curse at Marcus which broke through his shield. The crowd Oooh'd at the _bang_ it created. Marcus was pushed back and nearly lost his footing when Cho sent a stunner.

"What's the real reason?" Harry asked, heart hammering. Was she going to say yes after all?

She angled a little towards him. "The thing Percy said… about you going to see a therapist…"

Her voice went low enough that he could barely hear it. It still made his heart stutter at the scent of her hair, the closeness of her face… and the mention of his therapy.

He jerked backwards. "Could you not… j-just forget about it –"

"Wait, that's what I wanted to say!" She hissed. "It's okay!"

"What?"

"It's okay, you getting help. Therapy's good."

Harry found a lump in his throat that he couldn't move past. He gave her a stiff nod.

"I'm serious." Ginny insisted. "I've had that before. I mean… I've been there only once, but I can sort of relate."

It caught him by surprise. "You've been to therapy?"

"Just once." She said quickly. "I had trouble keeping my Core under control when I was younger. The Ministry sent a letter saying that I was required to 'seek help' or they'll quarantine me…"

Harry sucked in a breath. "How young were you?"

"Three."

He couldn't even imagine it. How could a three year old get therapy? Could kids that young understand a stranger's advice? Did kids that young usually need therapy?

The real answer was yes, considering some of the people they have to grow with. Harry was just glad that he'd never needed anything like that when he'd been three.

Ginny was looking at him. "I don't know why exactly you have to go there… but whatever it's for, it's to make you feel better. More in control of yourself. You don't want your magic running away from you. That kind of power is damaging to you and everyone around you… I don't know if you like it or not, but if you want to talk to someone about that, I'll listen."

Harry was looking at her. She was honestly offering him a helping hand. Harry wasn't sure if this was a pity thing for her turning him down or anything other than a friendly bit of suggestion.

"Have you ever… lost control?" He whispered.

Ginny's stare hardened. "Only once. And I plan on never letting that happen again."

"What happened?"

But she turned and watched the duel ahead as Marcus finally disarmed Cho and the crowd applauded. Harry couldn't look away from Ginny feeling the heat from her body pulse around her. It suddenly grew warmer and he took a step back, giving her some space. The warmth dropped to room temperature and he let out a silent sigh.

Out of control magic was one of the most dangerous repercussions of untamed Cores. Lack of proper expression, prolonged suppression of magic could overload the Core and magic someone's magic implode or even explode. Harry wondered if there was a term for that. He couldn't recall it at the moment. But he was sure that Ginny had more of a problem than she'd let on.

One step short of an absolute loss of control was the Penultimate Recourse. It was a stage when a witch or wizard's Core was just behind the line of an impending explosion. It was the last step where any kind of control could be established. It was also the most powerful weapon one could have. May be not as uncommon as a complete control loss, but still as destructive and distressing. Harry knew that was something Ginny was capable of doing. At times, when her eyes burst into bright orange flames, he knew that it was a sign that she had a greater Core potential than the average person. People had visible signs of aura or a flux resonating over their bodies when they were in pressured situations. The more clear or sensitive the auras were, the greater untapped power they had.

And Ginny could quite clearly be the strongest magic wielder in existence if it hadn't been for DJ who actually had a recorded value higher than any of the other elementals. And nobody had even seen his aura yet.

Harry remembered Ron talking about his flux… green and black shades of magic. Well… that was totally unexpected.

Abitu took up the stage again and Harry focused on her.

* * *

 _Saturday, Nov 3  
Hogwarts_

The next day, just as he went down to the Great Hall for lunch, he noticed that there were several groups of students congregated at different points in the hall. Not many were actually eating. In fact, they all looked worried and angry.

"There he is!" Lavender said, finding Harry. She waved his hand, calling him over. He followed her gaze as the group that was huddled around Hermione listened to her read out a news article.

"…no leads as of yet. But Aurors have recommended that people stay in their homes until midday when radio show Metro Voice has announced the latest details. Black has no comment at the moment, but he has been spotted with Kingsley Shacklebolt and Amelia Bones, all three known members of the Order of the Phoenix –"

"Whoa, Shacklebolt and Bones are in the Order?" Dean exclaimed, spinning around to look at Harry.

Harry was stunned reading the rest of the article to catch up with the group.

… _Does Lestrange's escape signal that You-Know-Who may be planning an attack on the British Wizarding Community in the near future? With no clues as to how the prisoner has broken out …_

"Of course not!" Ron said. "Ministry workers can't be in the Order, everyone knows that!"

"How would you know?"

"Harry, what did your godfather say?" Lavender asked, fretfully. "Are they tracking her with other resources? I mean, he did escape Azkaban once, he'll know better, right?"

"I…I'm… he hasn't said anything." Harry said, searching the crowd for Neville. But the boy wasn't there. He looked up at the teachers' table and saw it only half full. Dumbledore, McGonagall, Sprout, Flitwick, Snape, Abitu and Vector were missing from their seats. The other teachers were reading through their own papers, not worried about the growing noise from the hall.

"They put up the new protections around the castle." Colin was saying, but he sounded less sure with everyone staring at him. "I mean…"

"It's almost the same as we had two years ago and Black still got in! And that was even with the dementors and vampires and werewolves!" Seamus chattered.

"Hey!" DJ called out. "Just one werewolf!"

"Still! Lestrange is crazier than Black! I mean… Black back then… I'm not saying he's crazy now –"

"'Cause you know he's innocent?" Harry asked dryly.

Hermione set down the paper. "The wards we have around the castle now were anchored by runic masters. They reinforced the Vervion protection, it's nothing at all like it was two years ago."

"But someone still got through and set off the alarms, didn't they?" Parvati asked.

Harry looked down at the paper. Above the article, they'd shown the mug shots of Bellatrix Lestrange, a woman with a soulless look, but grinning at the camera as though she'd won a prize. Harry had the obscene desire to rip up her face.

There was a tap on his shoulder and he turned to find McGonagall standing there. "Potters, come with me."

Harry gestured towards DJ who climbed down from the table over which he'd been standing to get a good look of the paper.

They moved away from the Hall, with hundreds of pairs of eyes watching them leave. Harry had a feeling he knew what she wanted to tell them.

McGonagall stopped by the foot of the stairs and looked at them with a strict countenance. "Sirius has floo-called me to say you won't have your session today. The both of you will have to stay here in the castle until the Ministry can make matters better."

"You mean, until they catch her?" DJ asked, jaw dropping. We're stuck here till then?"

"It's for the best. And the Headmaster will see you later this evening for lesson. Be at the office by five."

"Yes, Professor." Harry muttered. She nodded and set off the stairs. DJ gave a loud groan.

"Damn it! We were supposed to discuss about the party!"

"Not so loud, DJ. We can still discuss it from here."

"No, I mean…" He sighed. "I mean with the new problem, it's going to be harder to find a slot to arrange the house and make sure that none of the Order finds out."

Harry ran a hand through his hair, unconsciously touching his faded scar. "That's true… but we have until the summer. We can put it off until after the winter holidays."

"After winter will be Easter, and nobody's free during Easter. Last year, the amount of homework we had, it was ridiculous!"

Harry smirked. "You think third year was bad, wait till this time round."

DJ groaned again. "That's just my point! It's best to do it before winter, that's what I'm saying."

"Alright, fine. We'll have to wait till December, then. I can't see the next couple of weeks going smoothly for any of us. Sirius will be booked over time. We'll have to skip the sessions too, probably."

Harry watched as DJ moved around the antechamber in a huff. It took little guessing as to why he wanted to leave.

"DJ… what do you think about Percy?"

DJ stopped moving. "The truth?"

"Yes."

"Well I… don't tell him I said this, but I think something's happening to Grover, the bloke he has that mind link to…, something's happening to him and Percy can sort of feel it, but he doesn't really know what it is. So he's taking out all that pain and anger on us."

Harry nodded. "I had the same thought. He doesn't generally lash out on people."

DJ gave a frown and Harry knew they were thinking the same thing. If Percy had to get better, they needed to either find Grover, or sever that link without hurting them.

* * *

With his nap cut short due to his appointment with Dumbledore, Harry stumbled through the castle, occasionally yawning. But it was when he'd come across a group of short Hufflepuffs that he remembered Goldstein's recommendation.

Dae Iseul was a lanky girl even in her almost regal like Hogwarts robes. She looked up when he changed directions to walk towards the group.

Two girls froze at the sight of him. Harry help back a groan and shot Dae Iseul a smile. "Hey, do you have a minute?"

"Sure." She shrugged and walked away from the gaping group. "I'll catch up with you!" She called.

Harry dug around his pockets for the bit of paper.

"Is this about the meeting?" She asked, adjusting the books in her arms. Harry shook his head, finding the paper.

"No. It's just a little thing… Can you read Korean?"

She frowned. "Yeah…"

"Okay. Someone's written this to me, would it be alright for you to translate?"

Harry watched as Dae Iseul rolled her eyes. "Jeez, I thought it'd be important. Is it a love note? I don't like reading love notes."

"Definitely not! And it's a little important to me, so…" He handed her the paper and she unfurled it, giving it a glance over.

" _31_ _st_ _July, 2010._ "She said, out loud. "It's a little clumsy… Did a kid write this? ... Potter?"

Harry had frozen. He had just recalled his birthday in 2010… that he'd spent planning, and sneaking into Ford McCallister's house to murder him, leaving the man's 6 year old son as a lone witness.

* * *

 **There you go. Stay tuned, good people. I will see you in March!**

 **Q: Did Percy and Grover's mind link ever get cut?**

 **Cabba.**


	37. The Present is Dear

**A: Catie Cat and Sherlock Harry Winchester are right. The mind link or as it is canonically called 'Empathy Link' was still there right up to Son of Neptune. Awesome!**

 **Thank you for the comments, they boost my spirits when I read them! You are the best!**

 **Note: Keep track of the chapter titles. I like putting little clues in them. And the poll! Check it out if you haven't, already.**

 **Warning: Underage drinking**

 **Listening to – BagBak by Vince Staples**

* * *

 _Saturday, Nov 3  
Dynasty Apartment, Manhattan_

The session with Dumbledore had been swift. Harry watched the memory of one of Tom's school days, a seemingly innocent boy who charmed his way through all the mock relationships he'd ever formed. Everything was a calculated move, intended on achieving an end, no matter how far away it was. There was always an ulterior motive for his smiles, winks and agreements because Tom would never smile, wink or agree with anyone wholeheartedly. His cold gaze could cut glass and freeze a room if anyone was unlucky enough to rub him the wrong way. And once, Harry had even seen a reddish glint light up in his eyes, displaying unrestrained and manic power behind his constructed charisma.

He'd been close to that. Years ago, just fresh from Halloween of 2002, when he remembered that torture and pain of death, when he wanted to lash out at them. At the age of five, Harry had been unlike any _normal_ five year old. He was closed off, detached and clinical, and he too his time to understand how adults functioned, planning out exactly how to track people, to find the right people and deliver justice.

And he'd left no trace of his presence behind, except for Robert McCallister.

Harry was in a daze ever since he'd taken back that slip of paper from Dae Iseul's hand, walking away from her, unaware of his surroundings. He had gone up to the Headmaster's office and didn't question the sombre atmosphere of the portraits, the empty stand of the phoenix or the sagging wrinkles on the man's face. They talked briefly after the memory, both clearly distracted by other matters. Dumbledore hadn't even stopped him on his distanced attitude. Harry had nodded, and shrugged all through the short conversation, finally leaving at six in the evening.

The sun was low in the lavender sky, the wind from the north blowing colder with every passing day. Harry hadn't even stopped to think. He had walked right onto the grounds, and used the oak tree by the Black Lake to travel to Central Park.

Instead of setting off for the Jacksons', Harry turned from the gate and walked in the direction of a building closer to the park. The Dares were based in their apartment named Dynasty, home to only Rachel.

She would listen if he told her, wouldn't she? Harry couldn't imagine telling anyone about this. DJ would be terrified, Percy would be in shock. Sally too and Sirius and Remus. Ron and Hermione would be speechless and horrified by the truth.

Would Nico understand? Would Harry be able to convey that he had been young and stupid when he went and _murdered_ ten men?

But Rachel? She was his sister, wasn't she bound by blood to support him no matter what? Harry was being stupid again. DJ should also follow this logic if it was true…

And besides, Rachel had made it perfectly clear that she was unimpressed by his actions the other day. Harry cringed as he thought back to the day when he'd twisted Ward's arm. He was sure that would hurt for a while. It had been so energizing and empowering to do that, though. Ward deserved that kind of pain. Anyone who thought they could get away with hurting people deserved –

Harry stopped in front of the gate. It was lunch time on the east coast. The security guard wasn't there. The steps leading up to the doors reminded him of Goode's entrance. Rachel would be at school…

Or at home, considering it was a Saturday. Harry took out his phone and switched it on, tapping on her icon to call her.

It rang a few times before she picked it up.

" _What?_ " Her voice was brusque. She was still pissed at him.

Harry closed his eyes. "I want – … I mean, I am… I'm in New York."

" _I thought there was no session today_."

She was taking about Mantis.

"There wasn't. Nobody knows I'm here."

He was done lying. If he was going to tell Rachel the sordid truth, he might as well not hold back at all.

" _Harry, for the gods' sakes! You're asking for trouble, you know that?"_

"I know. I want to tell you something."

" _Are you here to apologize?"_ Her voice turned a little sardonic.

"Not if you don't want it. I just have to talk to you."

She sighed. " _I don't want to see Percy._ "

"I'm not at Percy's. I'm outside your house."

That must have made an impact because he could hear a lot of rustling over the line. There was a smooth click of the opening of a well-oiled window and he looked up. Seven floors above the stairs, he spotted a red mass of hair poke out from one of the balconies.

" _Dodo._ " She said. " _Wait a minute._ "

Rachel cut the call and Harry stood in front of the gates, rooted to the spot as though obeying every command. There was an electronic beep before the gate opened on its own. He caught one of the bars and let himself in.

She waited by the doors, raised eyebrows and judgemental stare. She wore a large white t-shirt that had strokes of blue paint over it.

"You've been painting?"

"You've been breaking laws?"

Harry tried to smile. "The usual."

Rachel exhaled. "I'm letting you in only because you look like shit."

That did make him smile. They walked into the silent house. When Harry noted the absence of the house staff, Rachel mentioned that they were on their once-a-month paid leave. Rachel preferred to spend quiet days like this, working on sketches in her art room.

"You don't mind being alone?"

"There's nothing wrong with be alone. Everyone needs time to themselves."

They went up to her room where Bolt, in her tiger form, was stretched out on the bean bag. The bag looked like it could break at any moment.

Rachel dropped into the chair by her bedside table, sitting in a pose befitting a princess. "So…you look like you've had a dance with death."

"Interesting way of putting it."

She glared at him. "Harry, why the hell are you here?"

He stood there, watching her closely. She and Bolt were staring back with equal curiosity though Rachel's was tinged with annoyance.

He raised his hands half way. "I… am a bad person…"

She didn't blink. "Riveting. Is this a draft for a play?"

He groaned. "Rachel! It's not easy, okay? It's a big problem that could potentially ruin my life but I'm the one who did it! I'm ruining my life! I was an idiot, I couldn't think straight! I just went and did it! I didn't care about what would happen next! And now people could find out and nobody else knows and I have to tell someone or I'm going to explode!"

She shared a look with Bolt. The silence was not helpful. "You're saying… that you have a potentially life-destructive future? Would you look at that, we do have something in common!"

He glowered. "I'm serious. This is worse than anything I've ever done."

"Clearly that's a long list. But Harry, are you aware that you can be a bit overdramatic?"

She was making jokes while he was quite close to a panic attack. Harry took deep breaths. She was still angry, no matter what he'd say. Telling her the truth could wedge a permanent gap. For one terrifying moment, Harry thought he would have to leave, but he looked up and caught her disappointed face.

… Rachel was expecting something from him. Harry frowned. That day in Percy's house, right after the magical meeting, Rachel had accused him of using any means to get help himself.

" _You don't really want to get to know me, you just wanted to get out of the castle. But that's Harry Potter, folks. He gets what he wants, whenever he likes it…"_

"You said that something's bothering you." He remembered. "You had a bad week. Was it a vision?"

Rachel clutched the chair's arm rests tightly. Bolt's tail started to twitch. Harry sat on the edge of the bed, looking directly at her.

"What happened, Rachel?"

Her irritation was gone. She had a look of alarm. Harry's worry increased. It must have been a really terrible vision –

"You can tell your…your thing first." She mumbled, sitting up.

"Yours obviously important –"

"It is important. But if I talk about it, we won't talk about yours. You go first, Harry."

"Trust me, my secret would eclipse anything else. And you've been wanting to say this for a while now. Is this what you wanted to tell Percy?"

Her eyes narrowed. "Harry, please. I want to hear your sordid little secret, now."

He wanted to coax her into spilling, but felt that it would be crossing a line. May be they could talk about it if she didn't hate him and didn't turn him away.

"Alright… I'm a murderer."

She frowned. "I'm sorry?"

Bolt raised her head as well. Harry remembered when he'd sent her out to take a wash in the stream, claiming that she'd been starting to smell. He'd gone and killed McCallister in her absence. Even when she knew things in his head, Harry never let his mind drift to those thoughts.

"I killed people."

He waited. It was as if the cold winds from Scotland reached him from the Atlantic. Rachel's stare went from confusion to disbelief.

"Like… like in self-defense…? Like at camp? Those kids had to kill the other demigods –"

"Not like that. This was premeditated."

She uncrossed her legs. Her eyes didn't move away from his and he tried to stay still under her examination. She was searching for something on his skin. She was searching for the lie, for the horrible prank he was pulling on her, searching for a rude, ignorant Harry Potter who had the worst sense of humour, joking about murdering people, but she failed.

The truth was a cold and harsh slap to the face. That's how it always had been for him and he was now watching it happen to her.

"Say that again." She commanded. Her knuckles were tight over the arm-rests again.

"I murdered people."

"Death Eaters?"

"No."

"Monsters?"

"No." _Not in the way you think._

Silence fell on the room again. No one was breathing. Harry half waited for Bolt to lunge at him and half expected Rachel to throw him out of her life. She'd done it before, she would do it again, properly this time.

Rachel stood up. Her jaw was stiff. She crossed the room, walking away to the door, into the hallway outside.

Harry paused. Was he supposed to leave? Bolt said nothing, but kept watch.

Rachel came back with two heavy glass bottles and two shot glasses. Harry blinked at them.

She sat on the rug and patted the space in front of his feet. He slipped from the bed and sat cross legged opposite her. He watched, bemused, as she opened one bottle and poured out a tiny amount of clear liquid into both glasses.

Handing one of them to him, she said, "Ever had vodka?"

"…no."

"Drink it quickly." She said and took her glass, throwing her head back as she gulped the whole thing.

Harry stared at his shot. The glass was cold to touch.

You learn something new every day.

Harry took the shot, trying to mimic her. The liquid gave a burn as he went down his throat and the base of his skull throbbed a bit. He groaned, shutting his eyes and pressing the cold glass to his temple. It was an odd kind of burn that spread in waves.

Rachel didn't seem affected by it. Harry thought DJ had said something about her drinking, but he couldn't focus on that now. His tongue felt a little numb.

"Why would you say something like that?" She asked.

"W – what?"

"Why would you tell me that?"

He looked down at the empty glass. "I'd have to tell you the whole story."

Rachel raised the opened bottle. "I'm listening."

He told her everything. The frigid truth, the horrifying details, the rash reaction, the subsequent consequences. Rachel drank straight from the bottle, the longer he spoke. And she kept refilling his glass every time he hesitated.

By the time he was done. All three of them were tipsy. Bolt staggered in her puppy form, swaying on unsteady paws towards Rachel who had the hiccups. They merged as one and Harry sighed. He missed that. He missed Bolt so much, he felt like crying.

"She… was…wasn't there?" Rachel asked.

Harry felt incredibly gloomy and blamed the strength of the emotion on the liquor. "I shent her away!"

Rachel nodded, falling sideways into the bean bag. "Ten men."

"Hmmmm."

"Harry?"

"Yeah?"

"You can make poison?"

"Yeah."

"That's kinda cool."

Harry was about to nod when he thought there was something odd about that comment.

"But…it'sh nod cool, it'sh bad! Roberd Macaaaa…McCallisder'sh gonna dell people and I'm gonna go ta Azkaban and then ta hell when I die! And then I'll come back and I'll for-ged everydhing and I'll have ta shdard all over again!"

Rachel yawned. "Start what?"

"Shdard tha whole remembering dhing, remember?" Harry threw his hands up, feeling his head grow heavy and stupid. "I for-ged dhings when I die."

She gave him a lazy grin. "I forget things when I drink."

He leaned against the foot of her bed, running his fingers through the soft pelt of the rug. "Then why ya drinking now?"

She gave another hiccup, "In case I need to forget this… I mean, you confessed to me… if the adults use my memories or somewhat, then you'll fail the trial, na? But if I don't remember what you told, they can't use me."

Harry took a while to really understand that explanation. "But, but, but, but… they can shdill ged the memories… if they force id… ohhhhh! You're underage! They can't dake memories like thad withoud permissions!"

Rachel hooted, raising the bottle again. She said something else but the words drifted away from his ears.

"Wha?"

"I want cake."

"Yeahhhh!"

"You killed them."

"Yeah…"

"With berries…?"

Harry screwed up his face and held out his hand. He concentrated. His arm started to glow, but he refused to get distracted by the colours.

"Like thish!"

Rachel rolled to look at what he'd created.

"Oranges?"

"Hmm? No, itsh baneberriesh."

"Banana?"

"Bane. Berrieshsha!"

"Bane berries." She repeated. "You can make poisonous fruits?"

"Uhuh."

"Whoa. That's intense."

She gave a hiccup and he offered the orange to her. She frowned. "Is it poisonous?"

"I don't know."

"Urgh! Harry, you can kill someone with that!"

Harry pouted. He looked down at the fruit and crushed it in his hand. The juice squeezed out dripping to the floor. Rachel wacked him on the knee.

"Dodo. I want cake."

"I wand dard."

"What's that?"

Harry swayed forwards and face-planted on the rug, between his knees. "Id'sh like lemony, but shweed… I ade id onsh in tha Leaking Cowdron."

Rachel frowned. "Is it like cake?"

"I dunno."

"I want it."

"Yeah."

"We should order one." Rachel sat up and pressed her hands to her head. "I want lemony cake."

"Dard."

"Lemony tart."

Harry agreed wholeheartedly. He felt so relaxed and slow that he couldn't remember why he'd been so worried and terrified. Yeah, sure he killed people. That was bad. But he was getting lemon tart. Nothing's better than that!

Well, except for Fortescue's ice cream…treacle tart.

"Howsh aboud…"Harry struggled to his feet as Rachel stood up. "Dreacle dard cake?"

"I thought that's an icecream?"

"Id ish!"

"I don't know if they have cake… I want lemony tart."

"Okay."

"WAIT!" Rachel shrieked that Harry froze and turned to face her. Her eyes were wide and looked reddish. She was holding the second bottle.

"Whashamader?"

She raised her arms towards him. "I wanna hug!"

He shook his head. "I dun wanna hug!

"But I want!"

"I dun wanna!"

They started to yell at each other. At some point, she was trying to pick up the bean bag and throw it at him. She failed. Harry started to laugh so hard he was bent double over and she took a running leap at him, flinging herself over his back. Her elbow hit ear and he said, "OW!"

"Meanie!" She yelled. She locked her arms around his neck. "There! It's a half hug! Giddy up!"

Harry groaned. It wasn't like she was choking him, although her voice was high pitched and it seemed to shatter his ear drums. But her weight was comforting in an unexplainable way and he walked (or tried to walk) towards the door.

"Where we goin?"

"Kitchen. Card's there."

"Whad card?"

"Bakery's card, dodo!"

Harry reached the door with difficulty. His equilibrium was supremely off course and he only barely managed to reach the corridor outside without tipping over.

"Walk straight!"

"I cand!"

"What? You're not straight?" She began to laugh like it was funny. Harry thought about it. Oh right. He wasn't straight. It was hilarious! He started to laugh too.

He reached the bannister and leaned against it, looking over the circular staircase that went right down to the ground floor where the kitchen was. It looked like a long way down. He didn't think he could make it. He might trip. They might fall.

There was a brief recollection of a moment in the summer, when a bottle of alcohol…firewhisky? Beer? Something. A bottle had hit him in the head… no, Ajax had hit him in the head with a bottle and he'd fallen down the stairs… Rachel was holding a bottle.

He shuddered. No steps for him. Harry looked over the balustrade and swung his legs over it, balancing carefully on the edge of the platform. He held the rail tightly and looked seven floor down to the ground. He could jump. It was no tall order.

Rachel let out an _Eep!_ And clung her legs to him like a little monkey holding on to the back of its mother.

"What're ya doing?!"

"Going down." He said, ready to let go.

"But we have a lift!"

She pointed behind them, where there lay waiting, an elevator at the end of the corridor. Harry stared at it.

"Oh." He said and swung back to the hallway and walked towards it. Rachel exhaled in relief and he wondered why she'd been so stressed.

"You do stupid things, Harry." She told him. He pressed the down button.

"Not always."

"You killed people."

"Not always. And only the bad ones."

"Hmm." She said. She didn't let go, instead snuggling to his back. "You're not a bad person."

Harry grinned widely at that. The doors to the lift opened and both teens stopped and stared at the inhabitant in it.

There was a mummy in the lift.

The camp's oracle stood in the elevator as though that's where she had been stored for more than seventy years. Her bandages were dirt ridden with a green tint as though her magic had soaked through them. The strip of cotton over her eyes had two black burns for eyes and they gave a green glow.

Harry couldn't tell who exactly she was looking at, him or Rachel, but he knew that she knew where she was and she was very much aware of who she was facing. His skin prickled, hair standing on end. She had asked him to do something, a while back. He hadn't done it.

Rachel leaned to the side to face her properly. "Going down?"

The Oracle tilted her head. Then she shuffled her feet and moved, giving them space. Harry entered the lift and stood beside her.

"Ground floor." Rachel said. The Oracle didn't move. Harry leaned across her and pressed the right button.

* * *

It was just past two when the lecturer entered the class for the last hour of the day. Sally was glad. Community college was well and all. But with all her added commitments, she caught herself wishing she'd chosen a correspondence course which, as it turned out, Sandra's had a capability of providing.

She sat with about thirty other students, most of them working two jobs during the week. About ten or so were her age. There were a handful older than her, making her feel better about the situation. Most were still nineteen and twenty, having preferred to stay in the city near their parents to sort out their lives before setting out on the world. Sally appreciated that. There was so much pressure on youngsters having to get into white tile or red brick colleges, bearing the loans with part time jobs, the study hours, the hazing, everything that a high-schooler looked forward to. It had been her dream too, once upon a time. She'd had a lot of dreams.

"Nice!" One of the kids in front of her hissed, giggling at whatever his friend was showing him on his phone. The two boys snickered under their breaths and Sally sighed. College was still like school, sometimes.

"This kid's gold!" The first guy whispered. "I'd have paid money to see that."

"Send it to me!"

"You don't have LINE." He reminded him. "But don't worry, it's on YouTube. Just search 'Kid beats up jock for racist comments' or something like that."

They raised their heads and Sally caught a sight of whatever the first kid had been showing on his phone. Her heart fell when she caught sight of dark and messy hair. It looked too familiar.

He put his phone aside and Sally turned back to the board where the lecture on Print Journalism began. She couldn't concentrate. She tapped her fingers impatiently, trying to push it out of her mind. It couldn't be him. He knew better than to make an exhibition…

She took out her phone and went on YouTube. Sally prayed she was wrong as she typed 'Kid beats up –

A list of video popped up as recommendations. They were all of the same thing. Sally stared in shock as she recognised Harry immediately in the thumbnails. She clicked on the one which seemed the clearest. The phone was on silent so she could only watch the scene play out.

Harry was in his Hogwarts uniform, thankfully, without the robes. He had twisted the arm of a boy in a jersey, while the crowd stood around. There was a harsh look on his face. The video was unsteady and as it shook around, Sally saw Nico standing very close to three young kids, one of them in tears.

And then, Rachel burst into the shot and mutedly yelled at him. Harry waited arguing back before he finally let go of the boy, who was much taller than him, she realised belatedly. Rachel and Harry started to argue and a Native American girl came in view, trying to shoo everyone away. The video ended, frozen on a blurry image of Harry and Rachel.

It had been uploaded nearly a week ago. Neither Harry nor Nico had told her or Sirius about this. The school hadn't called her either. Sally knew that Nico had had a bully harass him, but he'd assured her that it wouldn't happen again and here, it was clear that something had happened and he hadn't told her. Sally went through the comments, many of which praised Harry for taking action and condemned Rachel for stopping him.

It was a trending topic. She wondered how Sirius would react, imagining that he would ground Harry, finally.

* * *

Annabeth read through the list Travis and Connor had given her. Their handwriting was awful. She had already planned on how to lure them into shark sacks.

Music  
Speakers  
Food&Drinks  
Glitter  
Vines  
Night vibe  
Decorations (Balloons, but not too much)  
Air freshener  
Med kit  
Shields  
Spears  
Swords  
Knives  
Daggers  
Bow&Arrows  
Mints  
Party theme

This was a terrible party list. They hadn't even included napkins or ice buckets, instead jumped straight to weapons and first aid. Annabeth was tempted to rip the page, but then just dropped it on the table and stretched. She needed to de-stress. Her ire was liable to explode one of these days. Most of her dreams were about Luke and none of them helped her in the quest of forgetting him and concentrating on the war.

And in the middle of all that, people wanted a party.

The problem was that as logical it was to not have one, there were enough reasons _to have_ one. One being that Annabeth wanted a party. Percy wouldn't like it. She had seen the look on his face when he'd said the word himself. The Hufflepuff witch, Susie or Susan, had been talking about Ministry Balls, giggles had erupted around that conversation and Percy and introduced the dreaded P-word which was now a fancy of everyone's.

So, instead of planning various defensive strategies to ensure camp's safety and decide where exactly the battle zone would be, campers were now discussing what theme would suit best.

Annabeth really needed a break. She had thought about going back to LA, but knew it would be too dangerous. She thought back to the talk she'd had with Percy more than a month ago. She had explained about the frequency of monster attacks and her reasons for dropping out of school…

She stood up and got ready. She was supposed to meet Percy for some knife and dagger practice.

Annabeth frowned at the memory. It had been a chore to convince him to stick around for the weekend. Percy had been adamant on going back to New York, but she had had a feeling that he would only fester in gloom and despair from worrying about Grover. Nico had told her in secret about how Percy would leave the house and skip school, disappearing for hours, sometimes even overnight. Annabeth didn't want to think how much he was risking, traveling on his own.

Despite the news about the missing satyr, people were hopeful these days. One good thing the prospect of a party had created was the uplifted mood. Annabeth walked by the mess hall, nodding towards Clarisse and Adam who were on their way towards lance class. Travis and Katie were hanging around by the brazier, about to be unsuspecting victims of the kids from the Hermes cabin who were lurking behind them. It felt like an ordinary day, ready to go bad.

She headed for the training halls. Some of the younger children were practice shield engagements, picking up the moves fast. Kayla and Miranda were overseeing them while Silena and Malcolm were calling out names for one on one fights on the other side. None of the Hephaestus kids were in yet, they must have still been working in the workshops. She walked right towards the solo spaces, marked out for heavier work and found Percy practicing his dagger throwing skills at straw dummies.

"You're early." She told him. He stopped and looked at her with a weary smile.

"Surprised?"

"No." A bit. "Just wondering… how long have you been here?" Annabeth noticed his t-shirt was already showing sweat stains. The orange top had torn sleeves, showing off his biceps and the bronze armlet which clung to his left upper arm as it always had done. Her eyes glanced over them, trying to enjoy the view, but Percy turned to face her and she noticed an odd mark on his shirt.

"Is that a burn?" She asked, reaching a hand out to touch a slightly dark smudge on the centre of his orange shirt right below the silhouette of Pegasus. Percy moved back to avoid her fingers.

"Huh? Oh, didn't notice that. Must have happened while climbing the lava wall."

His voice relaxed and didn't send up any flags but Annabeth frowned at the mark. The heat from the lava couldn't have made the stain. This looked like something exceptionally hot had touched the shirt momentarily and made the threads turn into smoke.

"Ready to spar, Wise Girl? Or are you stalling? I can give you more time, if you'd like." He said, flashing a smile and stepping back, swaggering. His anxiety from yesterday was all but gone.

She narrowed her eyes and unsheathed her knife. "Real blades, Seaweed Brain. You ready?"

"No armour?"

"Why, you scared?"

Percy raised an eyebrow. Annabeth sighed. "No, you're right. Armours' necessary."

He made all sorts of dramatic sounds as he said, "I'm right?!"

They strapped on their bronze plates, fixing the straps. Annabeth finished hers first and she helped Percy with his, pulling on the heavy metal to fit his torso perfectly. He look at her, eyes tender. She smiled. Their little ritual took her back to the first time he'd worn the armour when it had been ridiculously big on him.

He slipped out his dagger from the armlet. The blade was nearly fourteen inches in length, dwarfing her knife by four inches. The celestial bronze metal looked tarnished and Annabeth frowned, nodding towards it.

"Is that blood?"

"Huh?" He looked at the blade. Pulling his t-shirt from under the armour, he tried wiping the metal. The dull look stayed.

"It wasn't like this before…" he murmured. He pressed the tip of his thumb, carefully over the blade. It made a small slice in the skin.

Annabeth tried to clear the frown from her face. That was a bad way of checking the sharpness of a weapon and Percy knew that. Why would he try it?

"Seems fine." He concurred, shrugging. "I'll try washing it later."

Both knew that celestial bronze did need to be sharpened or 'washed'. Annabeth couldn't tell exactly what, but something was off about Percy. It obviously had to do with Grover, so she brushed it away for now.

"First to strike armour wins." He said and she grinned.

Percy could wield the blade with both hands. She kept that in mind, looking at which of his legs bounced higher as he hopped on his feet. He charged first, striking with a clenched fist at her left. She deflected it with a defensive arm and brought her knife to his exposed thigh.

He moved fast. She could feel the wind ruffle her curls as he dodged her strike, turning and ducking to aim low.

Copycat, she thought, dancing out of the way. She couldn't hold in the laugh that bubbled out of her. He looked up, eyes sparkling. His answering grin was followed by a switch of blade to the right hand and she parried his blow, their blades catching each other near the tips.

The swift contact shook her arm and she retreated, expelling air out of her lungs to roll to the right and avoid his charge again. Percy was going on the offensive, knowing that Annabeth would be able to wait forever if he stood on defence. She loved sparring with him. He knew exactly how to read her moves, even with the surprises she kept, and she kept a lot of them.

Annabeth deflected a kick, but immediately locked her right ankle over his left knee, pushing off of him to fly over his head. Percy dropped to the ground to avoid contact. Her knife grazed the lip of his armour.

He threw his dagger at her and she ricocheted the blade away from her with a smart swipe of her knife. But he had already ducked and run at her, grabbing her unarmed arm and pulling it behind her back. Annabeth gritted her teeth, expecting the ache. She let him twist her arm but also turned to the right bringing the blade down to his side.

His hand caught her wrist and he twisted it away from his body. Annabeth had wondered if he could retaliate that fast. Since he had, she took a different direction.

She used her fingers to toss the knife in the direction of his face. Percy jerked back, still keeping her arms trapped. While he was caught off guard for the millisecond, Annabeth threw her head back as hard as she could.

Their skulls banged, bouncing off of each other. Percy yelped, letting go of her and Annabeth grunted, turning around and delivering a running kick.

He tried to swerve away, but she was already in motion, her right calf coming over his shoulder as he bent to avoid her left foot.

Annabeth grinned. She used the momentum to launch over him, arms coming to grab his neck. Her legs circled his waist, trapping his left arm to the side. With her weight, she yanked him to the side and they both fell on the mat, his left shoulder hitting the ground with a solid thud.

He groaned. "Annaaaa!"

"Don't call me that." She sang, tightening the choke hold she had over his neck. His right arm was free, though. In a real fight, he would have had Riptide out in a flash and she'd be dead. But a real fight would never end with an opponent attacking Percy at such close range. Everyone knew that his sword would always come back to him.

His free hand caught her right elbow, trying to dislodge her hold, but no dice. He groaned again.

"I win." Annabeth gloated. "But you had some sweet moves, don't worry, babe."

Percy coughed. "Fine. Let me out, now."

"You can get out yourself, Seaweed Brain."

"I give. You win."

Annabeth frowned again. He was giving off that negative energy again. This time, there was a distinctive tone of loss underneath it. There was something worse than Grover's predicament weighing on his mind.

"It's not over till blade strikes armour." She reminded him. He stilled for a moment and tried to turn his head to look at their weapons strewn about ten feet from them.

That was another thing that bothered Annabeth. He'd thrown his dagger at her, a move she had easily avoided. And he knew that she could avoid it. The move hadn't been a distraction for a proper attack, but he'd continued to let her gain the offense…

Annabeth glared. "You let me win!"

"No!"

"Yes!... Damn it, Percy! Why would you do that?!"

She grabbed his ear, giving it a painful twist. Percy tried to shake her off, but she clung on fast, even as his free arm came to grab her hair.

"It's not over." He snarled, suddenly sounding very enraged but that didn't throw her off. What did startle her is that he used his free legs to bend them towards him and then launch himself back onto his feet, taking her weight along with his upper body. She felt his muscles under the armour contract and expand, working flawlessly for him to land on point.

But his hand had gripped her head hard and she had to let go of his neck, bring her arms up to twist away from his grip. She landed a few feet from him, having leaped away. The top of her head ached the hair sat tenderly on the scalp.

She massaged her head, assuming that he would go for the weapons that lay behind her, but Percy simply clenched his fists. His mirth was gone, mood having changed abruptly.

"You let me take you down." She said, adrenaline still flooding her limbs. Her breaths came in long winds, and she catalogued his stance, taking note of the faux at-ease position he was in.

"Or maybe you just got better."

"Or maybe you think I'm an idiot." She hissed.

Percy pressed his lips together. "I'm not on my game, today. I'm not in the mood."

"You'll never be in the mood if you don't push yourself, Percy. Grover is not –"

" _It's not about Grover!"_ His yell was so loud and sudden that Annabeth froze. The kids practicing at the other end of the hall stopped in their tracks and looked over them.

Something was wrong. Percy was breathing hard, arms at a distance from his body like he needed to punch a hole in a wall. That position was foreign to him. Annabeth knew that Percy was never one to display anger in physical and violent ways.

"It's not…" Percy tried to say, but he stopped abruptly as though his voice was gone. His eyes widened and Annabeth took a step forwards, worried that he needed his inhaler.

"Percy… come here, sit down. Do you want some water?" She said, trying to speak in a soothing voice. But he brought his fists to cover his face, pressing them into his closed eyes.

He didn't move, so Annabeth waved her arm at Malcolm to get a bottle. Percy was taking loud and deep breaths, almost panting. He sounded like he might retch at any moment. Annabeth knew not to touch anyone who was on the verge of an anxiety attack. He looked like he was having one and she dug through her mind to recall everything she knew on the topic.

A soft voice to guide the person, if necessary. Decrease sensory input to reduce pressure.

That one should work. The hall was already quiet enough. The fight must have put him on edge.

"It's okay, Percy. Malcolm's getting water. Do you want to sit down?" She said, as his breathing became slower.

"It's not okay." He whispered.

Annabeth nodded. "We'll find him. Next time you go, I'll come with you. We can cover more ground –"

"Were you ever gonna tell me about my dad?"

She stared. "What?"

Percy dropped his hands. "You knew that Poseidon's kingdom was attacked."

Annabeth nearly gasped. Percy…knew? How did he…? Had Poseidon been able to send him a dream? An IM? The last anyone had heard from Atlantis was when Artemis had sent word through the Hunters that the underwater castle had been engaged in battle with some old monsters and Titans of the deep. Athena herself had contacted her, letting her know that Olympus' army had been depleted by a substantial percentage with Poseidon's absence from the Council. There was no Iris Messages from the water and Annabeth should have known that Percy would find out, or at the very least, known that Poseidon's fight might have affected his son to some degree.

"Gods, Percy… I didn't know you'd found out –"

"What was the point of not telling me?" His face crumpled, eyebrows meshed up in the middle. "Did you think it would be alright if I didn't know?"

"You were stressing so much about Grover! Plus, I thought you might already know but you didn't want to tell anybody and I didn't want to pressure you!"

He was already shaking his head, "That's a lie, Annabeth. You didn't tell me about my dad. I heard Adam talking about it. How many campers know about this?"

Malcolm rushed over to them, holding up a bottle of water but Percy was staring at Annabeth and she couldn't do anything but look back in silence.

"Most of us." She finally relented. "The last message we got was from Triton."

The green of his eyes seemed to turn blue, the colours swirling together like waves below the surface. His gaze never wavered from her, not even when he asked the next question.

"Why'd you leave LA?"

He knew. Annabeth forced her body to stay still even though every nerve in her wanted her to run away from his accusation. Her skin was hot even despite the cold sweat that made strands of her hair stick to her face and neck in uncomfortable clumps. What was more disconcerting was the look in Percy's eyes.

"There were monster attack –"

"Were they? I would have thought he would make them leave you alone."

There was steel in his voice that made even Malcolm flinch. Annabeth's back straightened and she glared at him.

"It wasn't safe."

"He'd never hurt you."

"Stop that."

"Luke cares about you –"

"Percy –"

"And you still care about him after everything he's done!"

"Shut up!" She snapped.

Percy looked like he was about to advance on her but Malcolm took a step forward, placing an arm to stop him in his tracks.

"Go to the Infirmary." He said, voice slicing the tension. "Percy, I'm not joking. You're bleeding."

Annabeth blinked away from his face and looked at where Malcolm was staring. He was looking right in the centre of Percy's armour.

"I'm not bleeding." Percy muttered.

"You're breathing's too measured, you're holding your chest to carefully while the rest of you is shaking. You're cold and you're bleeding. Go."

Malcolm was right. Percy was standing far too still even for a demigod in danger. He was standing like he'd gotten burned.

Percy stopped glaring and looked away. He snatched the bottle from Malcolm and with one last look at Annabeth, he retrieved his dagger and left the hall.

She exhaled, grabbing her shorts and making fists of them. She'd hoped to never let anyone know about it, yet Percy had attacked her in one swoop. She knew that the gods would not be pleased with Luke's visit to her, especially Hermes, but she'd also been worried about Percy and Thalia's reactions. It hadn't gone well with him.

"You talked to Luke?" Malcolm asked in a whisper. She grimaced.

"Don't tell anyone, please Mal? I'll tell Thalia first… and try to get Percy to see…"

"If he'll listen to you. Percy's always hated Luke." Malcolm said with a sigh. "Ever since that thing with the scorpion."

Annabeth cringed. She'd recalled that now. Luke had tried to kill Percy several times. Their hatred of each other was not misplaced. But it wasn't as if Percy was entirely innocent. She could still remember the call Nico had made, asking her about her, Grover and Percy's first quest. She'd told the boy about Percy's killing of Medusa and Nico had cut the call almost immediately. Something had spooked him. Something about Percy had scared him into acting fast. That had been right before the monster attack that had nearly killed Nico.

And since the son of Hades couldn't actually recall what had happened that day, Annabeth knew she needed to ask the other person who had been there, and that was Percy.

Percy with his strange behaviour and new secrets and growing distrust that made him feel cold to her even when she could tell that he was trying to shove it down and pretend that everything was fine. But, it was obvious that there was something wrong.

* * *

"I found it! I found it!" Rachel sang gleefully. Harry hummed. They were in the kitchen and Rachel had been searching through a small shelf where all the business cards had been stored. She'd spilled several of her parents' older visiting cards on the gleaming platform and some reputed establishments' as well.

Harry had been looking through the fridge, searching for a more sober liquid than the one that sat on the table. He was extremely thirsty. The Oracle, in the meantime, stood beside him, waiting to talk to him. It seemed like a very odd and polite fact.

"Sweet on America." Rachel read. She held a slightly worn card in her hand and fumbled for her phone to type in the number. Harry listened as she called the bakery and ordered a large lemon tart, enough for a birthday party it seemed. That reminded him of something.

"Hey, Rach?"

"Harry, they're asking for the address."

"We're ad your house."

"What's my address?"

The Oracle turned around and reached for one of the cards on the table, pushing it towards her. Harry had an odd urge to giggle at the action.

"Ooh, thanks!" Rachel told the mummy. She held this card up and started to speak into the phone, "Beatrice Taliare Dare, Founder and CEO of _Reine Terre Fashions_ ,… Home Address! Dynasty Apartments, Avenue Road…"

The landline rang, loud and shrill. It was so close to the kitchen wall where Harry was, that he jumped and his head smacked the top of the fridge, upsetting the entire thing. He clutched his head and groaned.

Rachel glared at the ringing phone, and said, "Harry, get that!"

"Owww…"

"Hey, Mummy, get that!"

He took a step back and closed the fridge's door carefully, leaning against the wall. The ringing stopped and he was glad for that, eyes closed as he rubbed the top of his head gently.

Something poked him in his arm. He opened one eye and saw the mummy looking right at him, holding out the phone to him. He stared at her, she stared at him. There was a voice issuing from the handset, words unclear.

Rachel walked over from the shelf and took the device from the mummy's hand. "I have to do everything here! Hello?"

Harry watched as her face went from annoyance to downright crazed. "FOR THE LAST TIME, THERE IS NO EVANS HERE! STOP CALLING OR I'LL PHONE 911!"

She dropped the phone its set and looked back at him. "Tart'll be here in a minute. Would you like some more vodka?"

"Acdually, I'm just a liddle thirsdy."

"OJ's still left, I think. More vodka for me then. How about you, Mummy?"

The mummy didn't say anything.

"I totally get it." Rachel nodded, empathetically. "Would you like to join us at the table? We were talking about Harry and his murder."

"Murders."

"Right, sorry. Not his murder, no, he murdered like ten people. We're not talking about the fact that he got murdered like ten times."

"Hey!" Harry protested. "I god murdered only three dimes!"

Rachel growled. "I can't keep up with your drama, Harry! I need my drink! And my tart!"

Harry stuck out his tongue at her. "Id hurd, okay? Don't make fun."

"What hurts? Murdering or getting murdered?"

This was, hands down, the weirdest conversation ever.

"Both, acdually. But geding killed actually hurts more. Id's like…it's like dying."

Rachel gave a gasp. She walked forwards and tried to hug Harry but he moved out of the way, standing behind the Oracle.

"No hugs." He reminded her.

"Please?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"I don't like it."

"Why not?"

Harry grabbed the Oracle's shoulders and stood on his tip of his toes to look over her head, "'Cause I said so."

Rachel sniffed and turned her back on him. "Fine, be like that. I'll hug DJ."

"DJ isn't here."

"Then… I'll hug the Mummy!"

She started towards her but the Oracle stuck her hand out like a stop sign and Rachel had to stop immediately.

"Hey! You almost touched my boobs! You're supposed to ask!"

But the Oracle was done with their silliness. Harry watched, with low brain power, as her bandaged arm reached backwards and held Harry's wrist in a tight grip. She lifted it off her shoulder and he tried to yank his hand away but her hold was taut.

"Ow, what?!"

" _Where is she?"_ The double timbre voice echoed from the Oracle, green mist flooding the room and freezing the twins. Harry struggled against her immortal strength but she didn't budge. Her words nearly knocked him out from his inebriated state. His head started to spin.

"I…I don't know!"

" _You know."_

"No, I really don't!"

His arm was in pain. Her dead fingers were tight enough to cut off circulation. She raised her other hand, index finger outstretched. The green smoke swirled around him. Rachel was suddenly hid from view. The tip of the bandaged digit touched the space between his eyebrows.

 _Harry was alone. He was in an unfurnished room. It felt familiar. He looked around, searching for something that could help. There was a recliner and a table, the only movable things in the room. The windows were locked, though one of them was broken. The glass had cracked and a few shards had fallen out, leaving a space large enough for him to poke his hands out without getting cut._

 _He turned around and saw a red piece of cloth about as large as a pillow. The colour had faded and he saw strange markings on the material that shown when exposed at the right angle. Harry walked towards it. He could make out the inscription._

 _ **Who is your patron?**_

" _I don't know." He muttered._

 _Someone tutted. Harry looked up and found Ajax looking at him. He was the same, tan and sickeningly happy person. He was wrong. He was bad._

" _You're really good at hiding information, it would seem." Ajax said. Harry reached for his wand._

" _Don't bother." Ajax continued. "Besides, you'll remember what you need to when the time is right. We'll come for you then. Or even before if things go to plan. See ya!"_

 _He tossed something in Harry's direction, something glittering. Harry ducked behind the recliner, falling to the ground as the building exploded._

 _._

 _._

 _._

 _He woke up in a meadow. The grass was soft and bright green like artificially constructed turf and not naturally occurring grass. The flowers, the babbling stream, the tall trees, the warm sunlight… it was too perfect._

 _Was this a dream?_

 _No, it was something by the Oracle. She was doing something to him. She was showing him this. What was this?_

 _He'd been here before. Harry recalled this, lying on his back and looking at the heavenly sky. He sat up and looked around._

 _There it was. The house._

 _He knew this. He'd been here right after the third task. After he'd died then. He'd seen James. Talked to him. He'd talked to his dad._

 _After he died in Rome, the same thing had happened, except this time, Lily was there too._

 _They're laid out food, expecting him. He sat down and they had a picnic outside their house, on a blanket spread out in the garden. Lily's favourite song was Immigrant Song by Led Zeppelin. James had never once used his dad's hair products. Lily could read Egyptian hieroglyphics (she had had visions of going to Egypt). James had once led a Death Eater group away from the Order as a diversion (he was good at distractions). Lily missed her sister. James missed his brother. Even though Jacob was dead. Even though he was in Elysium, but apparently, Lily and James weren't in Elysium._

 _They were alone on an island, dead but not judged and not in peace. They were in the Underworld, but had never been to Charon's lobby. Someone had sent them to the island, where they'd lived for years, ever since they'd died._

 _And Harry had been the first visitor._

Harry cried out, "Relashio!", finally managing to pull his arm away from the Oracle's steel grip. The green of the mist dissolved from the purple sparks of his spell and he fell down, clutching his head again, this time in the agony from remembering what exactly had happened after Rome. His breaths came in short gasps and he felt light headed, close to faint.

Rachel's hands caught his arms. "Wait! Shh. Harry!"

He pushed her away, shutting her out, trying to breathe. It felt like he couldn't. He was about to be sick. He'd died and seen his parents. They weren't in Elysium, but a prison.

Someone was singing. It was a low voice, not musical, but Harry had an inkling as to the words…they were French. A year ago, he could read, write and converse well in the language, but ever since the Third task, his proficiency in memory keeping had dwindled.

But this song was melodic.

… _Dodo, l'enfant do  
L'enfant dormira bientôt._

 _Une poule blanche  
Est là dans la grange… _

He could recognize the gist of the lyrics. Rachel was basically asking him sleep. The irony made him chuckle.

She stopped singing and he looked up with a sigh.

"Better?"

"No. You know I have problems with sleeping. Why would you pick this song?"

She stared, "I…was trying to help."

"You're drunk." He told her, trying to stand up but falling again.

"So're you."

"I'm not the one slurring."

"You were."

The doorbell rang. Rachel sprang up. "TART!"

She flew out and Harry sat against something. He didn't know what to think.

The Oracle was gone.

* * *

 **And that was loooong! Sorry for the unreliable schedule. It's going to stay like this for a while. I'm super busy and I don't get enough time to type out the chapters. But they will be posted when I finish each chapter, so never fear. Stay tuned!**

 **And readers, what did you think about the fight scene? Was my writing alright? Action is a tetchy point for me.**

 **Q: How many horcruxes are intact in this story, at this point?**

 **Cabba.**


	38. Power

**A: Catie Cat is right. Other than the diary, the others are fine. Tom has the ring and the diadem, Percy wears the locket, the others are still out there.**

 **Thanks Sherlock Harry Winchester. This one's a lot of conversations so just sit back and relax.**

 **Listening to – Nothing Else Matters by Metallica**

* * *

 _Sunday, Nov 4, 8:34 a.m.  
Jacksons' Apartment, Manhattan _

Sally was in the living room, talking into her mirror in hushed tones. Nico would have been interested if he hadn't been occupied with his cellphone, staring at the text he'd gotten from an unknown number. But he knew it was Bianca.

 _Don't share with anyone. Dad won't bother if you check in only for a few minutes – B._

He clicked on the link below the message. The SMS screen vanished and his phone now showcased a dimly lit webpage with bright letters that he could read easily. The _Accorded Judgement Registry_ was at his fingertips now.

He looked at the animation of Cerberus, strutting across the page. Then his eyes drifted to the search bar and he clicked on it. With shaking fingers he typed in her name.

Without even a second to buffer, the screen shifted and an image popped up. Nico's jaw dropped.

Maria was looking at him. She had deep brown skin and deeper brown eyes, a playfulness shining through her face. Her hair was black and curled, falling around her shoulders as though a breeze had ruffled them just right. She smiled up at him, like a wizard photo. She wore a dark shirt, he wasn't sure what it exactly was. The background was a plain red, nothing remarkable, but Maria made it spectacular. Her presence seemed to bring a kind of life to the whole page, to the room, to Nico's mood.

It took him a while to look at the description below the photo.

 **Maria di Angelo**

Affiliation – Bianca di Angelo, Nico di Angelo (sires of Lord H)  
Category – Mortal  
Died – March 3, 1945  
Time of Death – 08:12:09 a.m.  
Aged – 34 years, 2 months, 6 days, 13 hours, 50 minutes, 31 seconds  
Cause of Death – Baby Dickhead  
Character – Positive – Perfect, Caring, Hardworking, Beautiful, Whistled in her sleep, Hummed in the shower, Bad dancer, Okay singer, Laughed at her own jokes, Cried when she laughed too much, Didn't throw anything at my head when I told her I was a God, Took it well, But locked me out of the house for a few weeks, Forgave me later, Dog person, Felt guilty for Persephone, But never regretted B and N +  
Crimes – None  
Good Deeds – Co-founded the

 _ **Angel's Boarding School for Orphan Girls of Colour**_ **, Set up the** _ **Asta Fund**_ **for a scholarship for Orphan Immigrants of Colour***

 _ **Status – Elysium.**_

 ***Name changed**

Nico felt the back of his eyes burn a little. His nose tingled and he sucked in a breath to stop from feeling lightheaded. He took a screenshot of the page and read it over and over again, till he was hugging his pillow and laying down, imagining his mother conversing with him, Bianca, and their father, all four hanging about and enjoying the day like a regular family.

The front door slammed. Nico barely lifted his head when he heard odd raised voices. Sally was berating Percy for his aggression. He was snapping back at her.

The door to the bedroom opened and Percy stomped in, dropping his bag on the floor and flopping onto the bed. He covered his face with his palms and groaned.

Sally appeared at the doorway, staring at him in disbelief. Nico looked at her and she gave him a surprised shrug.

Sirius' voice issued from the mirror she held. "I'm coming over there with DJ in a bit, Sal."

"Yeah! Got it, bye." She looked back at Percy who refused to look at her. With a disappointed expression, she turned away.

Nico sat up. "What's going on? Why's DJ coming?"

Percy didn't answer. He could have gone to sleep but the way his elbows were in the air, it was obvious he hadn't. Nico rubbed his face, wiping away the wetness.

"Percy?"

No answer.

"I thought you'd come back after dinner. I was gonna come to camp to see you…"

Percy didn't even acknowledge that there was someone in the room talking to him. Nico frowned and got out of bed, walking out and heading to the kitchen.

Sally sat at the table, frowning at the centrepiece, the lava lamp from the hall. The orange and purple fluids bounced off of each other, moving towards their respective places. She'd just shaken it.

"What's going on?" Nico asked, sitting opposite to her. Sally sighed.

"With Percy? I don't know. But did you know that Harry's here?"

Nico sat up. "No… he's in the house?"

"No, he's in New York! He's at Rachel's. Did you know that?"

He shook his head. "I thought she was angry at him."

Sally frowned. "Why would she be angry at him?"

Uh oh.

Nico cleared his throat, trying to fix it. "I mean… he didn't see her yesterday… so, he might have gone today to explain why."

Sally dropped her hands on the table. "Harry and DJ didn't come yesterday because the castle is one alarm away from being under lockdown. The Wizarding Community is under high alert at the moment. Nobody was allowed to leave the castle. But apparently, Harry's been in Rachel's house since last night!"

Nico squeezed the sides of his chair. That was bad news. He was supposed to go to camp today to discuss about the party. The witches and wizards were meant to call them yesterday, but they'd postponed it due to 'unforeseen circumstances'.

"Why're they under high alert?"

Sally looked towards the bedroom, checking for Percy. "I can't tell you. But it's not good, Nico. Harry's gone too far this time. He knows the problem and he still left. Sirius is not happy."

"But he's bringing DJ here?"

"He needs to talk to the four of you. I'm not sure what about. You'll have to wait…"

They sat at the table for twenty minutes until Percy came out and headed straight for the fridge. He took out the milk carton and Sally said, "Use a mug."

Percy stopped, staring at the fridge. Nico frowned. It seemed like Percy wanted to yell at her. But he just shut the door and reached for a cup from the shelf.

Sally picked up on his bad mood as well. She shared a look with Nico and they said nothing while Percy filled the cup and sat at the table, not looking at them.

The doorbell rang and Nico got up before her. "I'll get it."

He headed into the hall and checked through the peephole before unlocking the main door.

Harry stood there, with a bed head, reddened eyes and an overall dishevelled appearance that made it look like he'd been through a twister.

"Nico." He whispered. "Is Sirius here yet?"

"No."

Harry exhaled in relief, stepping in and shutting the door. "Good, I still have time –"

"You're not going anywhere, mister." Sally's voice rang out, sharp. She stood at the by the turn in the wall, arms folded. "And what happened to you?!"

Harry's eyes were wide. Nico could almost see him trying to come up with an excuse."

"I…someone attacked me."

Sally blinked.

"They tried to steal my wallet. But don't worry, I gave them a right shiner."

"Someone tried to mug you?"

"Yeah."

Nico tried not to wince. It wasn't too hard to figure out that Harry was lying. His arms shook about awkwardly and he was even sweating.

The hearth flared to life, green flames lighting up the room and spitting out two figures who stepped onto the carpet. Sirius and DJ shook the soot off of them. DJ coughed, running a hand through his hair vigorously, sending a puff of smoke from the strands. Sirius ran a wand across them and cleared the dirt off with a swipe. Then he faced Harry, expressionless.

"I'm in trouble, aren't I?" Harry asked.

Sirius pointed at him. "Sit."

Harry trudged from the door towards the couch. Nico caught DJ's eye and raised his eyebrows. DJ shook his head to signal that he wasn't sure why he was here.

"Do you have any idea how worried I was?" Sirius's voice made Nico wince. It was level and stiff.

"I'm sorry. I wanted to come back before curfew, I swear, but –"

"Why did you leave? Why did you leave knowing that Lestrange was out there? I told you to never leave the castle alone but here we are, _not_ in the castle. Is it so difficult to just listen to me?"

Harry glared. "I had to leave!"

"Why?"

He took a shaky breath. "Rachel was upset. I went to see her."

"So upset that you couldn't just call her? There's a reason you have that mirror, Harry. And it's not just for admiring your face."

"That's not fair! You know there are things no one can just call people to talk about. I wouldn't leave Hogwarts if it wasn't so important."

"Then why didn't you call me?"

"I didn't want to disturb you."

"Disturb!" Sirius looked stunned for a moment. He stepped forwards. "You think you're a disturbance for me? You don't think you're my number one priority? Do you think you rank so low that I wouldn't care about you being so worried for your sister that you would leave the castle while there was a dangerous murderer on the loose? Do you think I don't care about you?"

"No, I know you care."

"Then why didn't you call me?"

"Because you wouldn't let me go!"

Nico didn't want to listen. He wanted to walk away from the argument. The tension made his face grow hot. More than anything, though, he didn't want them to fight.

Sirius tried not to glare. "Is that your reasoning for this? Then tell me, how many times did you leave Hogwarts because you thought I wouldn't let you go?"

Harry pressed his lips together. DJ looked alarmed at the question because he, like Nico, knew that it had been more than twice.

"Once."

"Come again."

"Just this once."

Harry was trying. Nico might have even believed him if he hadn't known the truth. But Sirius's face fell. The silence grew. DJ looked at Sirius in trepidation. Harry squeezed the couches stuffing, Sally walked forwards to stand just behind Sirius and Nico felt himself rooted to the spot, waiting for the next comment.

"Give me your mobile."

Harry didn't move. "Huh?"

"Your phone."

Sirius knew. Nico wanted to panic. It seemed like they knew about the party plans. They were all in trouble.

Harry took out his cell and handed it over. Sirius held it carefully with both hands.

"Password?"

Harry hesitated only for a moment before saying, "Pumki."

"I'm sorry?"

"P-U-M-K-I. Lower case."

Nico didn't understand the word, wondering if his dyslexia was confusing it. On the other side of the room, Percy walked in, standing at the edge. He was holding his cup of milk, looking at Harry with curiosity.

Sirius tapped on the screen at a slow pace, not accustomed to the device. He stopped at one point, leaning towards Sally. She bent her head and muttered, "The red one."

He continued tapping until he got to the page he'd been looking for. Sirius handed the phone back to Harry.

"Watch it."

Harry clicked on the screen and sounds came from the cell. Nico froze. That was his voice!

The clarity wasn't all that great, but it was enough. He could hear his own voice along with Ward's, Dick's, Harry's and finally, Rachel's. It was the incident when Dick had hit Ashley and then Harry had hit Ward. People had been recording it on their phones. Nico hadn't thought about it at the time, but now it felt very serious.

DJ walked towards Harry to look at the screen. His eyes widened in shock. Percy took joined them, staring at the video.

The sounds stopped after a bit and the two of them stared at Harry while he looked up, speechless.

Sirius folded his arms. "That… was from a week ago. And it went viral."

Harry couldn't make a sound. Nico swallowed.

Percy was just as stunned. He turned to Nico. "Was that Ward?"

Nico nodded, wishing he could leave.

Sirius walked forwards and conjured a chair in mid-air. The trick did nothing to diffuse the tension. Sally barely blinked and the others kept quiet. He sat on it, facing Harry head on.

"How many times have you been here alone?"

After a tense moment, Harry replied. "I can't tell you."

"You _don't_ want to tell me."

"Yes."

"Is this about camp?"

"Not entirely."

"Is it about Rachel?"

"Partially."

"Is it about you?"

"Mostly."

"Do you think I'm joking?"

"No."

Sirius seemed to get angrier. Nico snapped out of his frozen form and blurted, "I called him!"

All five faces turned towards him. Nico faced Sirius, trying to settle himself. "Dick and Ward have been bullying me and Ash for a while… I panicked when we couldn't find Ash. And I didn't know what to do so I called the first person I could think of –"

"The first person was Harry?" DJ asked, incredulous.

"Yeah! I mean… Sally was busy and I didn't want to keep trying to call her… and we couldn't find the teachers! And I don't know! I wasn't thinking straight, I'm sorry. I was scared!"

Nico hated lying, but he also wanted Sirius to stop glaring at Harry. Sally walked forwards, staring at him in a way she never had before. It was a combination of surprise, disappointment, and calculating. Nico caught himself wondering if his mom would have ever looked at him like that.

"Alright." Sally said softly. She walked towards him and sat on the armchair, turning around in it. "I think we need to understand the whole situation before deciding what to do. Sit down, boys.

Nico hesitated, but then went to sit beside Harry. Percy followed, sitting on the wizard's right while DJ squeezed himself between the armrest and Percy.

Nico began to speak. He told them about Ashley and Dick, about Ward, about Gil and Denise, and finally about Harry and Rachel. Everything he knew, was out now. And it should have been a simple thing, it was a mortal issue, a regular thing, but it still made his stomach twist to describe Dick's gleeful attitude about picking on them, and Ward's encouragement of him.

"I don't understand." DJ said, after listening. "I mean… sorry, Nico, but you can knock him out, can't you?"

Percy looked at him and frowned. "Yes, of course. That's the best solution to this, isn't it? Just knock him out. Why don't you just stab him in the gut, Nico? Get rid of him once and for all?"

DJ's jaw dropped. "That's not what I – "

"Okay, so you wanted him to take a violent course, but not too violent for your taste, gotcha."

"Percy!" Sally's voice was sharp. "That's not the right tone for this conversation."

Percy huffed leaning against the back rest, but Harry turned towards him and said, "It's because of you! You were the one who put that nonsense idea into his head."

"Excuse me?"

Harry glared at him. "Nico wasn't fighting back because you told him not to. What kind of advice was that? Did you want him to get socked?"

"I didn't want him to break that idiot's jaw with a single punch." Percy snapped.

"Are you forgetting the Mist? Whatever Nico would do, it would be disguised to look as normal as possible, so your brilliant theory of the fear of exposure just fell into pieces. Did you even think before you told him that?"

Percy looked ready to lunge at him. Sirius intervened. "Wait! Let me get this right. Nico knew that Ash was in trouble, and since he didn't want to fight – "

"Because of Percy's _advice_."

"… he called Harry for help." Sirius continued. "Is that what really happened, Nico?"

Nico nodded, moving his head as fast as he could. Sally was still frowning though.

"Harry… why did you hurt Ward?"

Harry stared. "Well, I wasn't about to shake his hand for what he did."

Percy snorted. "You did _something_ to his hand."

"He deserved it."

"Really? He deserved having his upper arm dislocated?"

"You do realise he was being racist?!" Harry argued. "That kind of behaviour warrants anything!"

Percy gritted his teeth so hard that Nico thought he heard something pop. "Harry, I don't know if you know this…but you're white."

"I know –"

"And I'm Hispanic."

"I know that – "

"And that's pretty obvious to everyone who can see us!"

"I know!"

"So you don't have to tell me how racism works."

"I'm just saying – "

"You don't have to tell me how it works, because I've experienced it first-hand."

"I know!" Harry said, frustrated. "I was –"

"No." Percy told, clearly not about to let it go. "No, you were about to tell me how you think we should deal with it. Well, I'm telling you there's more than one way to deal with racism, and the way I prefer might be a little less violent than what you think is the right way."

"Less violent isn't the right way."

"Neither is being violent. That just continues the cycle of lashing out at everyone! You're basically bullying Ward and Dick."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Ha! If you're going to tag me as a bully who bullies bullies, I wouldn't find that so bad."

"Of course, _you_ wouldn't."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"That's your solution to everything! Anytime someone starts something, you see fit to finish it with an absolute slam down!"

"That's still better than your way! You used to fight back just like me, but then you started running away. Running is not a solution."

"It's a solution!"

"It's a coward's answer!"

Percy moved so suddenly that Nico flinched. But Harry got his hand up in time to block the swat that had been coming at him.

"Hey!" Sally barked. "Quit that! Or you're both grounded! Percy!"

Percy turned away, fuming. "Are you happy that I lashed out? That's what you wanted, isn't it?"

"May be I should be happy." Harry said, "This is the most alive you've been in a while."

"Harry." Sirius said, sitting up and narrowing his eyes.

DJ shifted as a way of calling their attention. They looked at him and he mumbled. "When you run away, it saves you from getting pummelled in that moment."

Percy rubbed the back of his neck. "You're talking about your orphanage. Did you get picked on a lot?"

"Way to be sensitive." Harry snarked.

"We're way past that."

DJ's nostrils flared. It looked just as comical as when Harry did that, but Nico couldn't bring himself to smile.

"When you're the scrawny, weird runt who 'throws' stuff around the room, it doesn't really appeal you to the bigger kids. The thing was there were a lot of short, small kids like me and only a few big 'uns. They still managed to scare us every single day. Looking back on it, if we'd been able to coordinate properly and grouped together, we could have fought back, or at least caught the caretakers' attentions. But most of us looked out for ourselves, and not a lot of us stood up to them. The ones who did got seriously messed up. They had to take one kid to the hospital, I remember."

Sally stopped breathing. "Nobody could complain?"

DJ shrugged. "They just sort of said 'boys will be boys'. But the real problem was, every time I ran and hid, I was doing it to save my own skin."

"There's nothing wrong to save your own skin." Percy said. "You were little, you were scared. It's not your fault that the adults who should have helped you, didn't. It's not cowardly to save yourself."

"Is it cowardly to wish someone else got caught so you had more time to hide?" DJ looked at Harry. "Would you have called me a coward?"

Harry couldn't answer.

"I wouldn't." Percy insisted. "There's nothing wrong with looking out for yourself."

DJ looked sad for a moment. "The thing about looking out for yourself… is that you can never have any friends."

Percy clapped his mouth shut.

"You… you're alone, the moment you choose to prioritise yourself over everybody, no matter the situation. And it's different from actually caring for your… your mental wellbeing, it's different because you'd rather all the bad things happened to anyone else, than it happening to you. You'd barter away the chance for actual relationships to keep yourself safe. And I know it's not fair, but it's painful living alone and not have anyone to talk to, to make jokes with, to just see someone and share a smile, because those tiny things actually matter to your sanity."

DJ's voice shook a little. "Sometimes you need to hit the idiots. Sometimes, if you're lucky, you can talk them down. Sometimes you need to take a hit, and those days suck, but every other day that you live with your friends, makes up for the sucky days."

Nico could see the stiffness in the air dissolve into an uncomfortable sadness. DJ blinked a few times to face them again. Percy and Harry didn't say anything. Sirius let out a breath and began.

"DJ, if you want, you can talk to me later –"

"I'm fine. I just wanted to say that… I mean, there's more than two ways at looking at the situation… and it's not whether who's right or wrong, it's about finding out which solution would work for a specific case."

Sally smiled at him. She seemed proud, hands wringing between her knees. "That's a wonderful way to put it. Harry, did you realise what the right way was?"

He looked up, uncertain now. Nico saw how he took his time to come up with an answer, this time, trying to consider another idea.

"I suppose… I could have handled it better… but I doubt Ward would have listened to me –"

"You're white, he would have listened to you." Percy said, short.

Sally nodding slowly. "There would have been a higher chance of Ward listening to you. See, Harry. What is it that you have that gives you a less judgemental position?"

Harry frowned. Sirius gave a smile, but it wasn't a smile of happiness or laughter. It was more wry and a little sardonic.

Percy turned to look at him. Harry looked back. The anger was gone and their facial expressions started to tell a different story. Harry's nostrils flared in question. Percy tilted his lips to the side. Harry reacted with surprise and Percy continued to blink, eyebrows finally coming together in a mesh.

It was like watching a silent conversation. Nico observed that they really were taking signals from each other's looks. It was an odd and surprising thing to watch.

"Power?" Harry asked, hesitant. He was being careful now. Percy sat up all the way. Their shoulders touched and Nico felt a little awed. He wasn't sure exactly why, but it seemed like he'd witnessed something between them that made the world appear different in the subtlest of ways.

"Privilege." Sally corrected. "And I think you know what exactly I'm talking about."

DJ was staring at the two of them in the middle of the couch. Nico wondered if he'd noticed the strange interaction as well. They spoke a bit more about Ward and Dick. Nico was just glad no one pointed fingers at him for refusing to do anything. Harry promised to not interfere again, unless it was life and death. Percy agreed that self-defense was necessary. Nico almost couldn't believe it when Sally had told him to hit Ward if he ever threatened Nico again.

Sirius finally cleared his throat. "And one more thing, Harry."

"Yeah, I know. I'm grounded."

Sirius scowled. "You definitely are. And I know you're probably never going to explain what exactly it is that made you check on the camp… but if you think you need help, would you at least consider involving me?"

Harry sighed. "It's not that easy, Sirius."

"I know… fine. It's just that…"

Sirius's eyes flitted between DJ and then at Harry. "You're not getting your portkeys."

Nico frowned. "What?"

"I have a portkey." DJ said, confused. He touched the pendant at the base of his neck, a black crystal that hung on a string.

"Those are the emergency ones in case of a penultimate recourse or complete control loss situation. I'm talking about the Ministry sanctioned portkeys that are supposed to bring you to the safe house, or to Frost."

Harry choked. "Why not? Is it because of me?"

"In part, I suspect so. But mostly because of a number of things that happened at the same time. For one, Kettler is taking a long paternal leave, Stanford de Leuze will be the new attorney for us, representing us, should the need arise." Sirius stopped as though he knew there would be questions.

"What's happened to Kettler?"

"He's having a baby."

"He's adopting?"

"No, he's having a baby."

DJ blinked. "Like from a surrogate mother?"

"No, DJ. Kettler's pregnant now. He's nearly four months along. I just got the floo call for final shifting. So any and all –"

"I don't understand."

"He's trans, DJ. He can biologically have kids with his husband." Sirius finally said.

Nico personally didn't think this was a big deal. He'd heard of more fantastic stories from Ancient Greek myths.

"It's not through magic?" Percy asked, looking less exhausted.

"No. Well, he had to stop taking a few potions, but he's well on the program now."

"Kettler's pregnant!" DJ crowed. His entire face was split into a giant grin. It looked uncomfortable. " _He_ is actually _pregnant_!"

Sally pressed her lips for a moment. "If you have a functioning uterus, you can have kids."

DJ looked absolutely overjoyed as though the holidays had rolled in. "That's the wickedest thing I've ever heard! Wait, pregnant people like baby clothes, don't they? I know the perfect store!"

"You know a store that sells baby clothes?" Harry asked, amused.

"I know every store in Diagon Alley that sells all kinds of clothes. Don't hurt me with such assumed ignorance like that, Harry. We should order in some socks. Everyone loves tiny socks. And Deringer's has Quidditch themed onesies –"

"DJ." Sirius interrupted. "That's a great idea. We'll send them something. But let me just finish what I was saying."

"Right. Sorry." He settled down, next to Percy who was in a much better mood than before.

"Since we have a new attorney on the case, I've asked him to push through on reporting Rita Skeeter for everything she's written about you, Harry. No, wait, let me finish. Dawlish from the Auror office, applied for the Order, King told us to not consider him because he reports directly to Fudge most of the times. Umbridge is in charge of the castle's security. All mails and fire calls are supposed to be authorised by her. That comes into effect starting tomorrow, that's Monday. What else, what else… oh yeah, the Cedric and Zach are under Tonks' guidance. If after two weeks, she agrees, we'll induct them into the Order. Crouch Senior's awake and if he comes to Hogwarts, _don't talk to him_. It doesn't matter if he says it's important, do not talk to him."

"Crouch's awake?"

"Umbridge's looking after the wards!?"

"Guys, wait! One last thing about the Death Eater search. Tomorrow's headlines will be that the authorities found her dead. If anyone asks, just tell them that you know nothing about it."

"But we don't know anything about…" Harry trailed off. "Did you find her?"

Sirius hesitated. "Yes…ish. Look, whatever you hear, don't go with rumours, just tell people that you don't know?"

"Did you find her or not?" DJ asked, mouth gaping.

"I… you'll find out with everyone else. And one last thing, you two."

Sirius leaned in, looking at DJ and Harry, his face absolutely serious. "I need you to promise me something. Do not get caught."

DJ froze. "What?"

"Whatever it is you're up to, don't get caught. Cover your bases, and plan everything."

Nico frowned. He wondered if they knew…

Oh, they knew. Sally's nose was shiny with sweat and her forehead was wrinkled in thought. She was not happy with whatever was going on, but she was willing to go along with it. And it was clear that the adults, the Order, knew something was going on with some of the Hogwart's students.

Sally's eyes darted towards Nico. He didn't look away in time. Her pale blue eyes seemed to pierce into his being, reading his posture and behaviour.

"Alright." Harry said.

Sally grimaced.

* * *

"They know!" Percy hissed. "They totally know! We need to call this off!"

"Give me a moment." Harry hushed him.

"They all but said it."

DJ sighed, leaning his back against the wall. The four boys sat in Percy and Nico's room. Harry was pacing from the door to the window. Percy was sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of his bed. DJ sat on said bed while Nico lay on his stomach, beside him.

"I guess Sirius realized he can't control anything about camp's interference with our lives." DJ said, gesturing to Harry and himself.

"Interference?"

"I didn't mean it in a bad way, Nico. It's just something none of us can handle without expecting major repercussions."

Percy shook his head. "I like my solution."

DJ leaned back, resting his weight on his elbows. "Your solution is to have no party."

"Exactly, it's clean and safe."

Nico frowned. "But then, how will they all meet? We need all the students and campers to meet, right?"

DJ nodded. "Percy, I know you're worried about this, but it's not a bad plan. A party is something anyone will want. It's a place to relax and unwind. They can make friends with each other, enjoy chatting and whatnot. We can have music and dancing and games. It'll be awesome!"

He really hoped Percy could be swayed, but the demigod shook his head in frustration. Harry still kept walking.

"You can't have fun if you're worried about being attacked."

"That's what the wards are for! Luna can set them up again like she did for the meeting. We'll be super safe!"

"What about the scent? You want fifty demigods in one house?"

Nico perked up. "What kind of protection does camp have?"

Percy snorted. "Don't get your hopes up, Nico. That's god status shielding. We're basically invisible to the mortal world. There's no way you can guard Frost up to that measure."

"You mean without a god? So let's ask one."

DJ looked at Nico. "You can?"

Harry stopped walking. "Do you know any god willing to do that?"

Percy started to laugh. "Sure why not? We can ask Mr. D. He embodies the party spirit!"

Harry frowned. "Percy, if you're even trying to help –"

"I'm not, I want this whole idea chucked into the bin."

"Even so… which god would be willing to help us?"

Percy shrugged, folding his arms and looking away. DJ turned towards Nico, raising his eyebrows to look hopeful.

"I don't know…" Nico muttered. "They're all busy –"

"Because we happen to be in a war."

"Which is why we need to do this as quickly as possible!" Harry yelled. DJ shushed him, eyes darting towards the door. Harry cleared his throat and said, "You guys are the ones who need the cooperation more than we do."

Percy's jaw went stiff. "Right. I forgot we're interfering in your school schedule."

Harry's nostrils flared, this time, making him look less funny. "Don't say it like that."

"Like what? Like it's an us-and-them situation? You're the one who brought it up."

"I mean, don't make it seem like we're on opposite sides."

Percy clamped his mouth shut as though he was forcing himself to stop retaliating. DJ stared at him. It couldn't be just Grover, could it? Percy was acting more out of character everyday.

"We need to get together again." Nico said, his voice almost a whisper. "You heard what the monsters said, the titans may recruit some _magic wielders_. We should stop that. We need to show them that we're like them. That we like magic and like hanging about with friends, having fun and doing normal stuff."

DJ agreed. "Definitely. A party would lower tensions. We can make it a good experience. We'll bring in different things like new music and new food so that everyone can try and learn from each other. It's like two cultures coming together."

Harry turned towards Percy and this time, DJ noticed an odd thing. Percy's shoulders went stiff and Harry raised his eyebrows. Percy pressed his lips together, jerking his head to the side by an inch. Harry gave a short nod.

Were they… communicating through gestures? DJ blinked, wondering if they'd done this before. They must have. It almost seemed like they were reading each others' thoughts.

Nico looked at him, wide eyed. He'd seen it too.

"Nope." Percy said suddenly. Harry exhaled. "Fine, it's your funeral."

"I'm not afraid of her!"

Harry stopped for a moment and DJ recognized that disappointed look. It was the same kind Sirius would give them when he caught them messing things up.

"I thought you were friends." Harry said. "What you did was shitty."

"I didn't… want her to get hurt." Percy snapped.

"And that's what you did."

Percy's face fell. For the first time in a while, his expression reminded DJ of his old self. Of someone who cared about relationships enough to regret certain things.

"I didn't want her to run into trouble when we're supposed to be looking out for her." Percy muttered.

Harry shrugged, "That's not your decision to make. Rachel has her life, and it's connected to ours. I trust her. If she wants to come to the party, the most we can do is explain everything we can so she's absolutely prepared. Or else you'll never have her in your life."

"May be I'm willing to risk that!"

DJ held his breath. He clenched his fists, watching Percy's eyes burn.

"I'm not willing to risk that." He told him. "Percy, even if you think that's the best thing to do, I disagree. This party is to make sure that everyone understands each other in a fun place. It's not gonna be easy, but pushing people away if just going to make it worse."

"It's easy for you to say that, DJ. But what if something goes wrong?"

"It won't."

Nico's quiet voice had a startling bout of authority. The older boys stared at him.

"Before we had the first meeting, Lady Hestia told me that she'll keep an eye on the hearth for us. I asked her blessing to grant us safe floo passage."

"Wow! That's nice of her!"

"Wait, Will and Clovis ended up in this apartment by mistake. If she'd granted safe passage – " Harry began, but Nico sat up and said, "She also said to not lose sight of old friends in our quest to make new ones… or something like that."

DJ leaned back. "She was talking about Rachel. If Will and Clovis hadn't ended up here, then we wouldn't have come here either. We were supposed to have told Rachel everything that day…"

Harry looked towards Percy with a superior grin. "I think we should listen to the goddess."

Percy looked like he'd just held back a glare. His head fell against the nightstand behind him. "Fine. But the party –"

"I invited her." DJ reminded him.

"Then, how are you gonna plan?" Percy demanded. "We'll need more protection that will last an entire day. You'll have more than fifty kids in one house, supernaturally powerful kids, at that. We'll need food for everyone, drinks, med kits, entertainment, and the lot, not to mention, we'll need the house without any interference from the Order. And you heard Sirius, whatever we do, we can't get caught."

"We're not telling Sirius about this. We'll find a way to block the connections to the house from Frost. We'll have to make sure the Order, especially Sirius, to be busy that day." Harry explained.

"May be we can ask him to do something that will take up the entire day." Nico suggested.

Percy threw his hands up. "He'll know we're up to something."

"That's the not the point. He shouldn't know what it is that we're up to."

DJ suddenly thought of something. "Well, if he's not busy with Order or Ministry work, I know a way to occupy him."

* * *

Sally handed the spoon full of mayo to Sirius who accepted with a wry smile. They were sitting on the kitchen counter, trying to not talk about the more serious stuff.

"Since when do you eat mayonnaise straight from the jar?"

She sighed. "It's sort of like stress eating. Last year, I finished the entire can of cheese when Percy'd gone on that… winter quest. Gained a couple of pounds…"

She pocked at her stomach. "It's distended, see?"

"You should see mine." Sirius said, grabbing her hand.

"You actually need to eat more. I can see the side of your ribs. Besides, nobody stares at your stomach when the shirt's off."

Sirius chuckled. "I'm planning to get rid of them."

Sally gasped. "No! The tattoos are a part of you!"

"They're a part of prison life."

She mumbled, licking at her spoon. Last night, they'd sat down to discuss exactly how to approach the boys. It was clear that as mortals, their help would be very limited especially when it came to Percy and Nico's lives. But if the gods had started to involve Harry then there would be very little Sirius could do to stop that.

"You know…" Sirius began. "I was a colossal idiot when I was fifteen."

"I hear you." She nodded. "I remember spending an entire month's allowance on shoes once. My uncle was not pleased."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "I was stupider than that."

"Is that a word? Stupider?"

"I think it is."

"I've never used it."

"In writing or speech?"

"Both."

"Hmm."

Sally giggled and leaned against him. "I could sleep for a few years."

She felt Sirius' scruff tickle her temple as he looked down at her. "Thanks for staying up late with me… I wasn't sure how to handle this."

"You handled it perfectly. You stopped panicking when you found out where he was. That's a healthy attitude."

"Yeah… how do you do it? How do you not descend into that… madness, when Percy skips a few days, or when Nico leaves for a bit?"

Sally raised her spoon of mayo. "I either work on the novel or eat the first thing I find in the kitchen. That's love Sirius, you stress eat for those you care about."

He didn't reply immediately which made her think he was busy finishing his spoon. But then he said, "I love you."

That was the first time he'd said it. Sally hadn't even started on that level. Love? As in 'in love'?

She tried not to freeze. Sitting up straight and putting a distance of a few inches between them, she stared at the overhead shelves on the opposite wall. Her body felt hot and her skin tingled in a way that made her feel like she was flying through the aesthetic clouds.

"I'm just saying." He sounded breathless. "It's just what I feel… you don't have to say it back…"

She turned to look at him. "I might say it one day."

He looked a little ridiculous, spoon hovering right in front of him. He'd stopped to just look at her, and it was such a brazen moment that Sally almost backed away.

"I'll…wait for that." He whispered.

He raised a hand, slowly so as to not startle her. His thumb touch the corner of her lips and he wiped away a smudge of mayo that had been there. Sally stopped breathing.

"I think you both need a night out." A new voice came from the door and Sally and Sirius jumped away from each other to find the boys stand at the kitchen entrance.

Percy had his eyes covered, Nico was peeking around him. Harry was determinedly staring at the ceiling, but DJ's eyes sparkled with such intensity that she felt flushed.

"I…what?!" Sirius spluttered.

"You've been working so hard, and obviously, you worry about us all the time!" DJ announced. "You two need to spend at least twenty four hours with just yourselves, and forget about all the problems."

Sally sat up, raising at eyebrow at them. "What are you up to?"

Percy lowered the palm that had been placed over his eyes. "Do you really wanna know, mom?"

"No." She admitted.

"Whatever it is that the four of you are planning …?" Sirius said, but Harry jumped in. "It's pretty important, Sirius… but like DJ was saying you need a time out."

"You're still grounded, Harry."

"I am well aware of that. But hear us out. DJ just remembered that there's a carnival held in East London every November and December… A muggle carnival."

Sally knew that would get Sirius's attention. "A carnival, huh?"

"Yup." DJ said. "It's brilliant. You can spend the whole day there, it's a 24 hour thing. You shouldn't miss it."

"Right…"

"It'll be like a date." Nico added his two cents. Sally smirked.

"And you won't tell us why you need us out of the way?" She asked.

"Umm… it's a big deal for us…"

"Is it life or death?"

"Yes." All the boys chorused. Sally stared down at her empty spoon and then grabbed for the jar beside her, scooping up more mayo. She'd been eating it for more than a week now.

Stupid gods and titans and their stupid war that involves little children…

"Will you call us if things go wrong?"

Sirius' question made them stop.

"Yes." Harry said finally. The two wizards stared at each other, assessing the careful word.

"So… when do you want us out?" Sally asked.

"We'll tell you!" DJ chirped. "And don't worry, it's not as dangerous as you think."

"That's not very comforting, seeing as how you're not telling us what you're up to." Sally said, looking up.

And she saw something.

Something odd.

Odder than the two demigods and two wizards standing by her kitchen door.

Percy's blue flannel shirt had splotches of red over it. For a moment, Sally's heart palpitated when she thought it was blood. But she stared at the red bits and saw that they moved.

It was in the air. It seemed like a soft dull red mist that hovered over Percy's form. It was visible only against the light blue of his shirt. It couldn't be the Mist. The magic that hid the supernatural from the mortal world was purple and silver, Sally recalled correctly. She'd never seen red mist.

"Alright." Sirius's strong voice broke through her thoughts. She looked at Percy's face, trying to distinguish anything from his expression, other than the dark shadows and the unhealthy pallor that he now always sported.

Sally was suddenly struck with the fear that Percy was hiding something else from them… Something that nobody knew.

* * *

 **AN: If anyone has a problem with the way I write trans characters (with the terminology, behaviour or anything else) please report to me. Transphobic comments will be run over by the Hogwarts Express.**

 **AN2: I will not update until after April. I have tests coming up and these are big ones. I will continue the story after that. Never fear.**

 **Q: In my instalment of The Memory, Harry and Ron find a black mist in the library. Can anyone take a guess as to what it may have indicated?**

 **Cabba.**


	39. Good Point

**A: Catie Cat's sort of right. It's basically residual magic oozing from Tom's power. No one ever said this possession thing was clean cut.**

 **brade1991, Catie Cat: It's a fairly new headcanon of mine. (By 'fairly new' I mean, a year or so.) I believe the Jacksons are all Hispanic, so Percy's half Hispanic and half Greek. Yeah, I know I've described Percy as pale for a few stories, but Hispanic people can be light skinned. greatly resembles his dad and can no way 'look' white. Sally's not too fair either. She has slightly wavy hair, softer than Catherine Keener (the actress who portrayed her in the film), and is not white. Not in this story.**

 **Sherlock Harry Winchester: Have fun!**

 **AN: Generally, when Tom speaks, "there's double quotes".  
When Percy speaks to Tom mentally, or when Rachel talks to Bolt, **_**it's italics**_ **.  
When Bolt converses in the same fashion, 'it's single quotes'.  
Dreams/visions **_**are in italics**_ **.**

 **Listening to: Hold On by Chord Overstreet**

* * *

 _Friday, Nov 9, 9:30 a.m.  
Goode High School, Manhattan _

It wasn't that the documentary was dull… it just didn't resonate with Rachel. Ms. Chris was screening something on the depression of the 1930s. Rachel already knew everything about the economics of the era. Those were the perks of having parents who were billionaires.

So, when she put her head down to close her eyes, she didn't really think she'd fall asleep.

 _They were standing atop a glass dome._

 _Rachel blinked, feeling the wind whip through her hair. She turned and looked at Percy on her left. He was frozen just as she was. They were high up, looking around the rocky landscape. Just beyond a few hundred yards was the ocean._

" _Is this an island?" She asked._

 _Percy nodded slowly, drinking in the surroundings. Rachel scanned the area and decided that they were on top of a mountain of rocks, but the tallest rock had a glass top. She shuffled her feet on the dirt ridden glass panes, feeling like she was balancing herself on an observatory tower._

 _Percy kneeled down and found a latch on the side of one of the panes. Rachel kneeled as well when he unlocked it and opened it like a secret door. They stared inside the hollow mountain._

 _They were at least a hundred feet up. The wind continued to blow around them and Rachel wondered if she really was looking at a beach inside the mountain. There were sand dunes to one side, both most of the area was covered with deep blue, unmoving water._

" _It's not a beach." Percy said, rolling his eyes. He seemed like his old self again and she grinned at him. He gave her a smile and then looked down at the eerily calm water._

" _Ooh! Shiny!" He crowed and leaped into the gap, falling inside the mountain. Rachel gasped as he fell._

 _He came to a light stop, bouncing on the surface of the underground lake. His footsteps made tiny ripples. He walked towards the shiny object in the middle of the lake and Rachel leaned in to ask, "What is it?"_

 _Even though he should have been tiny since she was at a great height, she could still see him, clear as if he were next to her._

 _Was this a dream?_

 _He bent to pick up the shiny thing. "It's a box." He called out._

 _He turned the thing over in his hands. It took up a lot of space, looking as big as a basketball, if basketballs were cuboidal. Rachel saw that it was heavily decorated and engraved with gold inscriptions. Without thinking, she said, "Is it Egyptian?"_

" _I guess so." He rattled the box. "There's something in it."_

 _He tried to pry it open. "Urgh! It's jammed."_

" _It's locked?"_

" _No. See it budged when I lifted the lid, but then it stopped. I think the thing's stuck."_

" _Then how are we supposed to open it?"_

 _She waited for a reply, but it never came. Rachel frowned, gripping the edge of the panes to peer in, straining her eyes._

 _Percy was gone. The lake had larger ripples. The heavy gold box floated on the surface._

 _And she thought she could see what was inside it. A large emerald pendant that hung from a chain. Strange writing shone through the jewel. This was no Egyptian, she thought. It didn't even seem Greek, even though she knew next to nothing of Egyptian and Greek._

" _Percy!" She called out, but he didn't respond._

 _She saw something move in the water._

Rachel woke up and felt a slight shiver go through her. The documentary was on going and the class was submerged in its dim light. She turned to her left.

Percy had his forehead resting on his desk. His eyes were screwed shut, body tense, right palm curled around his bronze pen.

Uh oh, Rachel thought. Percy's head jerked as he flinched from some invisible force, eyes flying open. His thumb pressed the base of the clicker and the sword appeared, blade stabbing through the wood of the desk, its tip impaling an inch into the tile of the ground. It missed his right foot, thankfully.

Rachel jumped in her chair and looked around in alarm. Nobody paid them any attention. Many of the students were slouching in their seats and even Ms. Chris was dabbling on her cell. The video showcased some old footage of newspapers reporting the decline in employment.

Percy glared at his sword. He stood up, gripped the handle and yanked it clean out of the ground and through the now new hole beside his book. He dropped Riptide on to the desk with a loud clatter, but nobody else in the room look at him.

Rachel stared as he placed his face in his hands, sighing in frustration. She looked at the sword. It was bronze but not as… sharp as before. She'd seen Riptide in action, gleaming and double edged, the ultimate killing weapon. The sword she saw now was like a cheap copy. There was something wrong with it.

There was something wrong with Percy.

Rachel leaned towards him, wanting to say something. But her focus turned towards Riptide instead. It looked bad. Something had spoiled it. She felt drawn to it, leaning closer to the sword. For some reason, she imagined her fingers actually touching the celestial bronze metal.

Rachel stretched out her hand without thinking, fingers just inches away from the hilt when a swift fist grabbed her wrist in an iron hold.

She squeaked, trying to pull away but Percy didn't relent, glaring at her.

"What were you trying to do?"

She stared. He sounded very gruff, hackles raised at her sight. It was as if she was the threat.

"Let go!" She hissed, digging her nails into the side of his hand. He pressed his lips together and for a terrifying moment, she thought he wasn't going to free her.

And then he did.

She brought her hand to her chest, holding her sore wrist gently. Percy swallowed, a flash of regret passing across his stiff face. He looked at Riptide and clicked it, turning it back into a pen.

"Sorry." He muttered, so low that she could barely hear it. Rachel tried not to snap at him.

"Bad dream?" She asked in whisper. It sounded snarky.

Percy's jaw clenched.

"Did you find something shiny?"

His head snapped around to stare at her. She felt a smirk form on her face.

"How… Were you in my dream?"

She shrugged. "It was my dream. You were in mine."

Percy's jaw dropped. "Then tell me, what did you think of the shiny box?!"

His voice was a hiss. He was supremely irritated. Rachel was not in the mood to condone that. She looked ahead, past all their classmates, at the screen. She was glad they were seated in the last row.

"Well?" Percy asked.

"Egyptian." Was all she said. She almost heard Percy fume.

"How did you see that?"

She looked at him. "I See a lot of things, Percy. I saw that dream, saw that box, saw you disappear in that dead lake."

"What did you say?"

"Dead. Lake." She repeated. "What pulled you underneath?"

He sneered at her. "Dead bodies."

"Of course." She shook her head, feeling oddly calm despite the horrific nature of the conversation. She felt Bolt stir and wake up.

"How did you get in my dream?"

"Stupid. It was my dream."

He sat up to glare at her. "How did we have the same dream?"

"No clue. But I'm definitely going to sketch it."

"Rachel!" He said loudly and this time, many people turned around to look at him. Ms Chris stood up and paused the video.

"Yes, Mr. Jackson? What did you want to say to your friend?"

"She's not my friend." He snapped and Rachel stopped breathing.

The teacher frowned. "What message did you have for her that's more interesting than the documentary?"

"That's none of your business."

Rachel blinked. Percy's sharp tone caused the teens to start whispering.

Ms. Chris looked angry, "Jackson, would you like to rephrase that or would you prefer to drop by the principal's office?"

"I think I'd rather leave." He stood up and dumped his textbook into his bag.

"Then you can go inform –" The teacher began, but Percy raised his hand and snapped his fingers, the sound ringing in a peculiar fashion. Rachel felt something shift in the air as Percy said, "Don't bother me, resume with the class."

The teacher stared at him for another second before clicking on the projector and playing the video. The others turned back to the screen and Rachel stared as Percy zipped up his bag and walk out of the class. Nobody batted an eyelash at his abrupt exit. In fact, everyone was now giving their undivided attention to the documentary.

'He's getting better with the Mist.' Bolt said.

 _But there's something wrong with him._ Rachel deliberated for a moment before packing her own bag and sprinting out of the classroom. Nobody stopped her.

The hallways were empty and would be so for at least twenty minutes. Rachel slung a strap over her shoulder and ran along the length of the corridor, sliding to a stop at the corner. Percy was near the exit already.

"Percy!" She called out, heading towards him at full speed. He stopped walking and gave a groan.

"Leave me alone!"

"You just walked out of class!"

"I did? I thought I tap danced?"

She huffed. "Seriously, what's wrong with you? I know something's up. Don't deny it."

"I'll handle it!" Percy snapped, turning to the right as though he were talking to someone. Rachel gripped the strap of her bag tightly. Was Annabeth here, invisible in her cap?

"What's wrong is that you're annoying me." Percy explained looking at her as though nothing happened. He glowered down at her and she simmered.

"It's like you're acting out! You're not leaving unless you tell me what's wrong."

"Who's going to stop me?" Percy scoffed, turning away from her. Rachel darted to the doors, standing in front of him.

"I will."

Percy stared at her, raising an eyebrow. Then he placed a palm on the top of her head and pushed her to the side like she was a kid. She slapped his hand.

"Stop that!"

"Bye."

"You're hiding something! And it's changing you!" She shouted.

Percy's expression changed in a split second. "What did you say?"

"You're different. Something happened and I'm going to make you spill!"

His condescending laugh hit her like a slap. She clenched her palms into fists and glared up at him.

"I didn't think you could do anything." He chortled, uncharacteristically. "You're tiny and …what? Like sixty pounds?"

"Excuse me, I play soccer… and can do twenty push ups!"

"Oh." Eyes growing wide in mock surprise. "I can do ten… sets of twenty! Don't talk about muscle, Rachel. You'll make people die of laughter."

She gritted her teeth. "If you're so smug about your skills, let's put them to the test!"

Percy stared. "You wanna have a push up contest now?"

If Rachel had to get Percy to stay and talk, she needed to outsmart him. There was no way she'd win anything in a competition that relied on physical strength.

"No! But let's arm wrestle. If I win, you have to tell me what's wrong."

So much for the physical aspect. She watched as the amusement in his face grew. Rachel folded her arms, trying to look smug. Percy snorted.

"You do know what arm wrestling is, right? I'd break that twig of yours."

"You talk a lot for someone who got yanked into _water_ by corpses."

Percy's grin faded. "What are you playing at? You know I'll win."

"I don't think you will." She tilted her chin up and stared him in the eye, gaze unwavering.

His scoff was pronounced this time. "Are you planning to use Bolt to distract me?"

"Nope. No magic, just two people and their strengths."

Percy smiled. It lit up his eyes, not in the kind, happy way that it usually did, but in a sharp, patronizing manner. "Alrighty. But when I win, I want you to promise me that you will not come to the party."

For the second time that day, Rachel held her breath.

"What the hell? Why don't you want me there?"

"Because it's a bad idea!"

"I don't believe you. You're hiding something."

"So you keep saying. Are we on?"

Rachel prayed this would work. Otherwise, she'd have to tell the others that she wouldn't be able to make it.

No, it has to work. She looked up with determination and nodded, before opening the door to the steps that led out of the school. There was no one in sight and she called him out. He strolled into the open air and dropped his bag to the floor, sitting on the second step and balancing the elbow of his left arm on the top step.

Rachel sat facing him. "You're okay with using a non-dominant hand? I'm ambidextrous, you know?"

Percy raised his eyes to the sky, "At least, I have muscle in both arms."

She flashed a smile at him. "I'm counting. Ready?"

"Sure."

She made a loud hacking noise and spat into her palm. Percy's jaw dropped as she slapped her hand into his, yelled, "I, 2, 3!" in quick succession, and pushed his arm to the ground, his knuckles touching the tiles with no resistance.

"YUCK! Rachel! Ew! Gross!" He jumped back, waving his arm around frantically, finally wiping it against her bag. "That's disgusting!"

"I win!" She chirped.

"You cheated!" He pointed at her, furious.

She sat back. "I said no magic. No rules were broken. You were so smug, you couldn't see beyond what was happening. You lost. So… Percy, what's going on?"

He didn't move for an entire second, which felt longer than necessary. He dropped his raised hand and turned towards… nothing in particular.

Rachel frowned. She watched as Percy's eyes focused on something that she couldn't see, something right beside him. Then he exhaled.

"Fine. Yeah, I'm sort of not myself at the moment."

"At the moment? You've been like this for weeks."

"Oh, wow. If you're so observant, why are you bothered only now?" Percy's voice started to get louder. "Why did it occur to you to ask me now and not before?"

Rachel huffed. Was he blaming her? For his problems?

"You're being weird. I've been asking you since forever and you kept shutting me out! So, I took the hint and stayed away. But this is getting serious, so stop pushing me away – is Annabeth here?"

Percy leaned back, absolutely surprised. "Annabeth?"

"Yeah. You know, tall, blonde, perfect curls, sharp eyes that can shoot lasers, your girlfriend, that Annabeth. Is she here?"

"No. Why would you ask that?"

"'Cause you keep staring around you as though there's someone there." Rachel said, irritated. She stood up and started to look around them. "She has that invisible making cap of hers. Is she here?"

Percy laughed. "There's nobody here. You're being delusional."

She stopped and swivelled to face him, eyes boring into his. " _What?"_

He knew not to say that. Rachel knew that he knew. 'Delusional' was part of the list of those sensitive words and phrases that she hated. It came close to the dreaded 'C' word, right next to the 'hyper-imagination of a child'. Percy wouldn't dare to use such a term. He knew how much it would hurt her.

And yet, he said it.

"You're imagining things." He said, apparently not registering her reddening face.

"I thought you were just going into a tirade of people not observing things about you." She said, voice shaking.

"Real things… you know what, forget it."

He stood up and reached for his bag. Rachel blanched.

"Hey! You're supposed to tell me what's wrong –"

"I didn't make a promise." Percy said, in that infuriatingly calm voice. It was so unlike him. He stood there, one hand in his pocket, the other swing the bag over his shoulder. His pose was graceful, almost. It had none of the jerky movements that she'd become accustomed to.

"That's not fair!"

"Tell me about it." He rolled his eyes and left. And even as he walked down, she thought he had turned around to look at her. Rachel blinked. No, he was still descending… but she was sure there were a pair of eyes trained on her. She could almost feel someone watching her. But it wasn't Percy… and there was no one else here.

So who was looking at her?

* * *

 _Friday, Nov 9, 12:00 p.m.  
Hogwarts, Scotland _

"…so we can transport everything to the house and assemble it over there." Malcolm said. "Which means we need a few people to arrive at Frost in the morning to set things up."

"The party starts at seven, Malcolm." Susan said, looking through the lists. "We won't need the entire day to arrange it."

At least six others were crowded behind Susan in the Come and Go room. They were conversing with the demigoddess through the IM that Harry had set up. Over the few days, Lady Iris must have earned a pretty penny. They'd have to think of another way to communicate, especially for those who didn't have drachmas.

"If everyone brings their assigned goods, we can set it all up within three hours, no problem." George said, over Susan's shoulder.

She turned around in surprise, "Three hours?"

"Susie, you've never set up a Gryffindor party. This one is going to be even bigger. So let the pros handle it."

"I'll read out the list of stuff you'll be bringing." Silena said, from the other side. She held a long roll of paper and then squinted at it. "Malcolm, your handwriting is atrocious."

Harry stood back from where he'd been busy. Cho and Anthony were still seated by the table where a paraphernalia of water bottles, soft drinks, fruit juice, light snacks, biscuits, cakes, and the rest were arranged.

"I'll be back in a couple of hours." He told them. "Today's the only day we have in the next week to set up the wards again. Luna, Hermione, DJ, and I are going to the house. The rest of you finish up here, pack it up and get back to your common rooms."

"What about the date for the party!?" Adam yelled, deafening Silena and Malcolm.

"That's … a work in progress. Sit tight." Harry winced. "You have the extra drachmas, Susan?"

"I have two. But really, we need to find another way to talk. This is too expensive." She sighed, looking at the treasured pieces of gold in her palm.

"I know… we'll come up with something. See you."

"Bye." A chorus of voices called out as he left the room.

Harry checked the hallway outside the magical room, deeming it safe for him to exit. He loosened his tie and removed it, taking in a breath of warm air. Outside the castle, the temperature had already begun to fall. It felt like this winter would be the coldest in the four years he'd been here.

He knew the others would be waiting in the Great Hall, having an early lunch. Harry took the stairs, not encountering anything odd until he was right by the double doors of the hall. He ran into Romilda Vane.

"Harry!" She exclaimed, grinning immediately. He grimaced, ready to sprint away, but she shoved a crate of glass bottles towards his face.

"Guess what I have?!"

A whole new batch of love potion, he guessed bitterly.

"It looks like butterbeer." He said, making no effort to smile.

There were only about fifty people in the hall. The ones who were staring at him were Romilda's friends from the Gryffindor table. They were all peering, with curiousity.

"It is. It's Sparkling Berry Butterbeer!" She lowered the crate and picked up a corner bottle, holding it out to him. "Here you go."

"That's not necessary –"

"Oh come on, Harry! Aren't we friends?" She tilted her head and batted her eyelashes.

"No."

"Wow, that's rude. Say… do you still have the chocolate frogs I gave you?"

"Yes…"

"Cool. You can have this with them. It will taste divine, trust me! You'll thank me."

She shoved the bottle into his hands, and Harry squeezed both hands around it, crushing the bottle. It broke with tinkle of glass and liquid spilling onto the floor between them.

Romilda shrieked and stepped back. Harry waved his hands that were already starting to feel sticky. There was a heady smell from the butterbeer. It was sweet and alluring. It made him want to lick his fingers.

Shit, this must have been a stronger batch of love potion. Harry immediately put his hands down and turned his head to breath away from it. "Whoops! Sorry about that, I have a really strong grip."

She looked at him, speechless for a moment. "That's… that's okay. Here, you can have a second."

She took a bottle from another corner of the crate. He realised that she might have dosed only the corner ones with the potion.

"This one looks more sparkly." Harry said, pointing to one of the bottles on the inside rows. Romilda immediately shifted the crate away.

"They… they're all the same! See, if you hold it by the light, it sparkles just fine."

Harry took the second bottle that she gave him. Then, without a second thought, he braced himself and twisted the metal cap with a pop.

"You won't mind if I have it right now?" He said.

"Go ahead!" She said, voice high. Her eyes were wide and Harry gave her a grin.

"Actually, I just remembered. Dean and Seamus love this stuff. Mind if I take a couple more?"

"Er… sure… but you can drink the one you opened."

Harry picked up the remaining corner bottles and said, "Thanks."

"WAIT!" She yelled again. "Not those!"

"You said they were all sparkly –"

"No, I mean – " She tried to grabbed the extra bottles, but Harry held them away from her. They were gathering attention from the hall.

"We won't let it go to waste." He assured her. "In fact, I'll get the chocolate frogs too, everyone loves those. We can all have a bite –"

"It's not for them!" She complained. "It's only for you."

"It's a big box."

"You can have one every day."

Harry was starting to lose his temper. "Why? Because the dosage is meant for twenty four hours only?"

She froze. "Huh?"

Harry tilted the opened bottle, letting the liquid slosh around. "The love potion that you were trying to drug me with. Each frog has enough for only a day, is it?"

Her facial expression gave her way, even if she didn't confess. Harry lowered the bottles back into the crate and continued, "The only reason I'm not reporting you is because I have better things to do than waste my time on a self-obsessed pre-teen whose pitiful plan was so damn see through it was a wonder she even managed to make it to where she is. If you ever think about doing anything like this again, I will have a lot of fun with a whole bunch of legal laws that I'm sure you broke. Have fun with your pathetic life."

He turned around and strutted, that's right, strutted away to the Gryffindor table, where Hermione and Ron were watching him.

He sat down opposite them and grabbed some napkins to wipe his hands. Just to be sure, he use spoons for his lunch.

"You're not going to tell McGonagall, are you?" Hermione asked.

Harry blinked at her. "Sure, that'll make the day fly on silver wings. I'd rather not do that now. Snape's not taking the class after lunch, so that gives us a rare afternoon off. I'd rather spend the time on the stuff that matters."

Ron sighed. "Sorry, buddy. But I agree with Hermione on this. You should tell someone. I mean… love potion's no joke. Well, it's a prank, yeah. But it can ruin a lot of things, and it's a good thing you knew about it. What if you didn't and you ate a frog? By the way, what did she give you this time?"

"Sparkling Berry Butterbeer."

Ron sat up. "Seriously? Where does she get the good stuff?"

"Must have cost her a lot." Hermione mused, still frowning.

Harry rolled his eyes. "Is she still standing there?"

Ron looked around him. "Nope. You're leaving after lunch?"

"At one, actually. Speaking of which…" Harry leaned in, searching up the table for DJ. He spotted Ginny's hair and found him sitting beside her, Luna was there as well, waving her hands as she tried to explain something to Colin who seemed bemused. Luckily, he saw Harry trying to signal him. Colin nudged DJ who turned around.

Harry mouthed 'One'. DJ already knew the time, so the reminder worked.

"It's lucky the fourth years have a study period now." Ron said, digging through his soup. "I think the party should be held on a Friday. We might get another day like this next week."

"Next week." Hermione repeated, worried.

"We'll decide that over the weekend." Harry said, rifling through the shortbread.

* * *

 _Friday, Nov 9, 1:10 p.m.  
Frost, Gretna Green_

Percy snatched his arm away from the spitting pan. Frying dumplings was not easy. He was pretty sure he'd burn this batch like he did the last.

With Annabeth, Nico, Chris, and Katie in the house, Percy felt like doing something productive, and for some reason, his mind went in the direction of what Harry would do on an off day. Harry would be in the kitchen cooking up a snack. No problem, Percy could do something as well…

It didn't help that Tom was sitting on the counter, mentally revising on different way to break into Gringotts, trying to find that one way to _not_ get caught.

"Percy!" Annabeth called from the living room. "I think it's burning again!"

"It's on low!"

"Did you flip them?"

"Oh… yeah, I forgot… again."

Percy picked up the spatula and focused on the four pieces of dumplings in the frying pan. His old enemy, 'the flip' had risen again.

"You're being dramatic again." Tom muttered.

Percy gritted his teeth and picked up a knife to cut one of the dumplings into two. _Look who's talking_.

He heard the hearth in the hall flare up. Percy sighed, looking at his sad dumplings. He might have to throw this batch out as well.

"What's cooking?" Harry called out from outside the kitchen. Percy sighed and trudged towards him, noticing that he was still in his Hogwarts uniform, minus the robes. He seemed relaxed as though none of them were breaking any rules for the umpteenth time. "I didn't believe Nico when he said you were in the kitchen."

"Ha ha." Percy muttered. "Yeah, I wouldn't have believed it, either."

"Trying to impress Annabeth?"

"Failing. I didn't think it was possible to kill food."

Harry took a few steps back as Percy walked out of the kitchen, untying his apron. "You got a burn on your camp tshirt."

"Yeah… it's an old one."

There was a thump from the living room and Hermione shrieked, " _DJ!_ " There was a set of footsteps thudding on the side, till the sounds started to come from upstairs. Then there was a crash.

Harry and Percy looked up as thought they could see through the ceiling. Neither of them moved.

"Do you ever stop for a moment and wonder what a normal life would be like?" Harry asked wryly.

Percy chuckled. "This is normal for us."

Behind them, the pan made a spluttering sound and burst into flames. Percy jumped, turning around and gaping at the fire. "I'm never cooking again!"

"It's fine!" Harry raised his voice. "It's just the oil. Check on DJ, he's probably making them fly again."

Percy walked towards the large space that faced the west, constructed as an elaborate hall. There was no hovering people or furniture, but Katie and Nico were standing in the centre, jaws open. There was no one else in sight.

"Where're the others?" Percy asked.

Katie just pointed towards the stairs while Nico said, "They're… chasing a beetle…"

Percy waited. "Is that a joke or…?"

Luna came rushing down the stairs. She bounced into the room, crossing them and giving Percy a smile. But she didn't stop until she reached the front door and pointed her wand at it.

" _Et Claudere_." She said. Percy recognized the Latin immediately, just as he saw a small pulsing in the air surrounding the door. The pulse spread like a ripple, all through the house.

Katie turned towards her. "Why did you seal us in?"

Luna's smile fell. "There's someone in the house. Hermione called her Reeter."

Nico stared. "What?"

"I don't recall –" Luna was cut off when DJ ran down the stairs towards them. He had his wand out as he scanned the room.

"Is she here?"

"Who're you looking for?"

"Rita Skeeter! Where did she go?"

Percy pressed a palm to his face. "Wait, start over. Rita Skeeter is in the house?!"

"YES!" DJ yelled. "She's an Animagus! She can turn into a beetle! Hermione recognized her the moment she flooed in!"

"Skeeter came through the floo?"

"No, Hermione came through the floo. Skeeter was on the window sill looking at us."

Nico said, "Oh. That's why you shut the windows."

Katie coughed. "Witches and wizards… can turn into insects?"

Hermione, Annabeth, and Chris ran down and met them halfway in the room. Chris looked very excited.

"There's an insect in the house that can turn into a person!"

"No, Chris. It's a person who can turn into a beetle. Not the other way around."

"Is there a difference?"

Hermione spluttered. "Yes, there's a difference!"

"Where is she?" Percy asked, throwing his hands up.

"I think I stunned her." Hermione said, looking around. "She definitely hit something. But she flew out of the bannister and into the mezzanine."

DJ frowned. "We don't have a mezzanine."

Hermione looked perplexed. "What about that space below the first floor ceiling?"

"In the opposite wall?" Annabeth said. "That's built like an alcove. The top part acts as an open ventilator. But it doesn't lead outside."

"I blocked all exits." Luna said, looking towards DJ.

"It leads into the dining room." DJ realised and headed back to where Percy stepped from. The rest followed and Percy started to have a bad feeling. It wasn't just about Rita Skeeter being here, (which was alarming, how did she find the house?!) it was also about what happened right before Percy left the room.

"It's a tiny green beetle with markings around its eyes… not that you'll be able to spot them immediately. Hopefully, she is stunned and not hiding." Hermione said, looking around the dining room and peering into the empty kitchen.

Percy leaned to the side. "Harry?"

DJ looked up. "Where is he?"

"I left him in the kitchen." Percy said, placing his hand over his pocket, tucking his thumb in. he could feel the outline of Riptide.

"I found her!" Luna cried and everyone rushed towards where she stood in front of the stove. She was looking at the dumplings.

"That's not…" Percy groaned. Chris poked at the pieces.

"They're not beetles, Luna. They're veg dumplings. I was trying to fry them."

"Well, they sort of look like her."

Percy was about to laugh when a horrible thought entered his mind. He stared at the pan. There were only three pieces in it.

"Harry?!" Percy shouted, turning around and running out of the kitchen.

"I think a Wok would be better for deep frying." Luna said, picking up one of the pieces and taking a bite out of it.

"I'm here. Stop yelling." Harry groaned, stepping into the dining room. He was frowning at the table, his good mood having evaporated. Percy rushed towards him, grabbing him by the shoulders.

"How many did you eat?"

"What are you – let go!"

"Harry, how many pieces did you eat?!"

"Two! Why are –"

"I made four!" Percy cried. "There's three left in the pan!"

Harry stared. "There were five when I looked. I was just checking if they were salvageable."

Annabeth gasped. "No way!"

Chris pointed at Harry. "Is he saying what I think he's saying?"

Luna hummed. "They are edible. If we just scrap the burnt crust –"

Hermione stepped forwards, watching Harry carefully. "Harry…how do you feel?"

"I feel fine. Why are you all looking at me like that?"

Percy couldn't help it. He was staring at Harry's stomach.

"Did you… chew properly?"

"What?"

"Was it extra crunchy?"

"Ew, Katie!"

DJ exhaled, anxiety showing very clearly. "Harry, Rita Skeeter sneaked into the house."

Harry did a double take, immediately frowning at them."What? Wait, that's why you were yelling?"

"She's an Animagus. She can turn into a beetle, about the size of the dumpling and Hermione might have stunned her when she was trying to escape."

Harry was still staring at them. "What are you getting it?"

"We think you ate her." Chris said, dropping his head back to stare at the ceiling. "How did she taste?"

It took exactly four seconds for Harry's face to turn white. Then there was a greyish parlour that descended on his skin. Percy would never tell him, but it reminded him of Vernon Dursley's mood ring face.

Hermione conjured up a bucket which she gave Percy who held it in front of Harry. The latter snatched it and hugged it to his chest.

"She's not dead." Nico said, just as Harry found a chair to sit in.

Percy watched him frown for a bit. "You're sure?"

"Yes, I'd know! She's still alive."

Annabeth gave a half shrug. "Then maybe he didn't eat her."

"Or maybe she's still alive in his stomach." Katie suggested. Chris pinched his nose.

"You're really not helping, Katie. How can she be alive _in his stomach_?"

"It's possible! Like, he probably just chewed off her legs or something before swallowing –"

Harry couldn't take much more of the conversation. His entire body lurched forwards and he threw up into the bucket.

Luna went to stand beside him, covering Harry's ears with her palms. Percy held his breath, wondering whether he should look in the bucket and expect blood or beetle parts.

DJ nudged him in the back. Percy glared at him.

"Ugh!" Harry groaned. "I hate you all."

He got up, tried to walk, turned green, and quickly sat down.

"I don't think she's in there." Luna said, a softness entering her voice. Percy didn't understand how she could be so calm in the situation.

"Did you check properly?" Hermione whispered.

Harry's nostrils flared, but someone else groaned from beneath the kitchen counter. Percy nearly flinched from the suddenness. Hermione and DJ swivelled around, wands pointing at the shadow out of sight. Chris walked into the kitchen and stared.

"Found her." He called out and Harry's head fell on the table, muttering expletives.

"Get up!" Hermione said, furious.

Percy watched as a hand came up, holding the edge of the counter for support as Rita Skeeter stood up on shaky legs. All her limbs were attached to her and she did not look as though she had been chomped on. Despite her ragged hair that seemed like it was smoking, she seemed fine.

Skeeter must have hit the edge of the pan when Hermione had stunned her, causing oil to splash out and into the fire. She didn't look particularly burned though.

She looked angry and glared at Hermione. Then she turned towards Chris.

"You… are not human."

Everyone stopped. Percy felt like his body had frozen up, refusing to listen to his commands to start moving and do something, like knock her out or…

"Kill her." Tom suggested.

 _Not now!_

Skeeter smiled. "I knew something was going on. With Potter leaving the castle at every turn, today would also be a part of the pattern. I'd like to see you explain this to the public."

"And how would you explain why you were here?" DJ snapped.

Skeeter rolled her eyes, walking forwards on shaky heels. She seemed unperturbed by the wands. Luna and Harry were unarmed at the moment and none of the demigods could bring their weapons out; that would only worsen things.

She walked right by Percy and stood facing Harry. "You should be careful about talking to random people, Harry. With so many secrets, some are bound to fall from the basket… or in your case, a bucket."

Harry's eyes burnt into hers. "I didn't talk to anyone!"

"Oh, you're saying everyone is aware of how virtuous you are? Well, I wouldn't want to dampen your day, sweetie. But you should wait for the headlines. I have enough about you to sell a million copies."

Percy frowned. "What?"

She looked at him, giving that awful smile of hers. "Oh, haven't you heard? I'm planning on writing a … biography, if you will… on dear Harry, here!"

"You can't do that!" Hermione protested, with a tremor in her voice.

"I can, actually. Free speech and all that. Does that answer your question?"

"It wasn't a question! This is harassment!"

Percy stepped forwards, standing merely a foot away from Skeeter, who seemed startled at his aggression.

"Get. Out." Percy hissed, fists clenching. He felt blood roar in his ears, body so tense that he wanted to hit her.

May be Tom had a point.

Skeeter looked alarmed, but only for a moment. She angled her head towards him, eyes looking over her rickety glasses. Her blonde strands had dark roots showing, forehead crumpled in thought.

"Oh, you're definitely not human." She whispered, almost gleeful.

Percy felt his hands shake from unbridled rage. It felt wrong, but there was pure power emerging from his gut, which gave a sharp tug, as though he was summoning water from somewhere. But he wasn't focusing on water. He was looking at her.

The smile vanished from her face. Skeeter took a step back, looking very uncomfortable. She swallowed once. Then once more. And again.

Fingers touched the small of his back. He nearly jumped. Percy immediately recognized Annabeth's lemon scented shampoo, right behind him. He tried to exhale, breathing slowly.

Everyone in the room was quiet. Percy could feel all eyes on him. He wasn't sure what had happened, but he knew Annabeth had stopped him from doing something very drastic.

"That was very interesting." Tom said, eyes glittering.

 _What?_ Percy asked.

"Stupefy!" Hermione cried, shooting the spell quickly enough to take them off their guard. But Skeeter ducked and withdrew her own wand.

DJ thrust his hand out and she gave a shriek, flying upwards and almost smacking into the ceiling. Percy and Annabeth backed away, just in time. Skeeter had shot a curse wildly, hitting a spot on the floor right where he'd been standing.

Skeeter aimed again, this time finding mark in DJ's arm.

DJ yelped, dropping his wand. Skeeter fell down, but she brought her wand in a long arc and her fall slowed till she landed almost gracefully on her pointed heels.

"Kids." She spat, wands pointed at Percy. "Absolutely no finesse. As to your previous statement, Ms. Granger, it was I who faced harassment in this house, what with being thrown about. So, in self-defence, obviously I retaliated and disarmed you and reported you to the authorities."

Skeeter was smiling, far too smug. Percy's ire was rising again, but something behind her caught his attention.

Sally was standing there, holding her phone and recording everything that was happening. Percy blinked.

The reporter recognized that her audience's attention was not on her anymore. She turned around and glared at Sally who was now typing away into her phone.

"This is an unpleasant surprise." Sally sneered at her. "By the way, it's not you who's gonna do the reporting."

Skeeter merely rolled her eyes and flicked her wand, sending the phone flying away from her hand, crashing into the wall. It fell to the floor in pieces.

"You were saying?"

Sally's face grew severe. "I sent that video to my mail. Which means I can access it from… anywhere in the world. You have a spell to break the planet?"

Skeeter faltered for a moment. Percy doubted she understood what email was, but must have had some idea about the internet because she took the threat seriously. Sally walked forwards till she reached Harry who was still seated, still pale.

"I forgot to close the floo." Luna whispered.

"That's alright." Sally sighed. "I did. Harry, can I have your phone?"

Skeeter's face twisted. "Planning to cut a deal with me?"

Sally laughed. "Why not? If you leave right now, with the promise that everything that happened here will not leave your mind, I'll delete the mail."

"Why should I believe your word?"

"Because you're standing in my house, uninvited, harassing a bunch of children to the point that one of them threw up on you."

Skeeter frowned, "Excuse me?"

Sally's hand snatched the bucket from Harry's lap, so fast that Percy only blinked and it was over. She'd upturned the entire thing on Skeeter's head.

The woman started screaming from under the bucket, too stunned to take it off. Her wand was still gripped in her hand, but she didn't use it. She simply stood there, drenched in vomit, shrieking obscenities.

Percy struggled to not laugh. Harry and Luna were rooted to the spot while everyone else jumped back. Hermione clapped both hands over her face, Annabeth clung to Percy, giggling into his back, and Chris leaned towards Katie and whispered, "Is it just me or does it smell like overripe oranges?"

Sally raised Harry's phone and clicked a pic. "Would you take off the bucket for a moment, Rita? I'd like a head shot."

* * *

 **Sort of like a filler… but it's a precursor to other stuff. Hope this chap was at least funny. Stay tuned, folks!**

 **Q: What was Percy's new power that he discovered when he was down in Tartarus? It was something that scared the bejesus out of** _ **everyone**_ **.**

 **Cabba.**


	40. Baby Steps

**A: Percy could control water inside a body. Be it in poison form, or liquids, bodily fluids…**

 **Sherlock Harry Winchester: Yup, have fun.  
Catie Cat: Nice touch. :)  
Pjsfangirlforlife: Noted, enjoy the story.**

 **AN: Life caught up to me. That's all I'll say on the matter.**

 **Listening to – Stay by Hurts**

* * *

 _Sunday, Nov 11, 11:30 a.m.  
Grimmauld Place, London _

Sally found him in the kitchen. Sirius was seated at the table, head bowed over a letter that he clutched in his hand tightly. There were a lot of newspapers spread out by him, but he paid no attention to them. The headlines caught her interest, at once.

"She's dead, then?" Sally asked, picking up the closest paper. There was pair of mug shots of Bellatrix Lestrange. The title above it read: LESTRANGE FOUND DEAD.

"Pretty obvious, don't you think?" Sirius said, clearly mad about something. Sally frowned at him.

"What's wrong?"

"What isn't? Remus's letter says that they're still in West Germany. Kreacher's missing. Harry has a grand secret that now involves a bunch of kids, but apparently none of us can know about it. And Lestrange isn't actually dead, that's just what the papers were told."

Sally sat on the chair next to him. "Is Remus in trouble?"

"Not yet. The group he's in is being led by Greyback, which is not something that can help anyone sleep at night. There's only six of them, but it's still a terrifying number. He's not going to be back anytime soon."

Sally squeezed the top of his shoulder. She knew that Greyback was vicious werewolf who'd been the one to turn Remus. It must be a traumatic reminder for the man to face his attacker every day.

"But Greyback doesn't recognize him, right?"

Sirius gave a crude laugh. "Greyback'd need a pensieve to keep track of everyone he'd turned. No, Moony's sort of safe in that respect…"

Sally grimaced. "He said that it might take a few months –"

"Right up to a year. It depends on when Voldemort plans to attack. Speaking of which, the Minister just asked Dumbledore for help."

Sally's eye twitched. "Oh. That's… good?"

Sirius sat up and turned to her. He grabbed her hands in his, holding them carefully. Sally waited patiently till he spoke. "Someone from a muggle village phoned the hotline, describing Lestrange. The Aurors went and found her wandering around a moor, crying and screaming."

He inserted a laugh there. It sounded weak and pathetic. "They thought she was a banshee. She's horrifying enough to be one, to be honest. Point is, when they brought her in for question, she kept mumbling random stuff."

Sirius frowned. "Someone had performed Legilimency on her. Bellatrix is as good as dead. Whatever the person did, rendered her insane to a degree."

Sally tried to swallow but it didn't work. "Someone drove her mad?"

"It wasn't intentional. That's what the Healers said. She was weak to begin with, after Azkaban. Whoever broke her out, wanted information from her. They left her there, apparently confident that she wouldn't say anything damning."

Sirius stood up, suddenly. "It makes no sense! Everyone knows who she is! This person wouldn't just leave her alone! The logical thing would be to take her along with them, or just kill her!"

"May be they thought it wouldn't matter?" Sally suggested, standing up.

He shook his head. "It would have been too risky."

"Or maybe they thought she was dead."

Sirius frowned. "Someone this smart to break into Azkaban and not get caught can't make a blunder like that. No, there's something we're missing."

After another bout of silence, Sirius's shoulders fell from their tense pose. "I don't have time to dwell on this. I have to meet up with Stanford in the evening. He's drawn out a form for me to file against Skeeter."

"Ah." Sally nodded, thinking back to what happened day before yesterday. As fun as that had been, she was bound to keep it a secret, with all the kids pleading her to not tell Sirius or anyone else what they'd been up to. She'd promised, reluctantly.

Sirius gave her another look. "Fine… are you feeling peachy?"

"Never better." She flashed him a glamorous smile, and it ought to have put him at ease, but something about her actions, just… didn't.

"So what's going to happen to Lestrange, now?"

"They'll shift her under a protection program. There are some experts working on recovering some memories. If they find a face, it'll be enough to start with. It has everyone on edge. Tea?"

"Sure."

Sirius reached for the tea leaves. Sally lifted herself onto the counter, wondering if Sirius could tell there was something different about her. "There's something more, isn't there?"

He filled water in the kettle. "It has Voldemort's magic all over it."

"I'm sorry, what?"

"That's why they called Dumbledore. He's a Master Legilimens. He scanned her aura and said that it was exactly Voldemort's brand of power. It's like…"

Sirius nearly dropped the kettle onto the stove. His voice was a mixture of anger and confusion. "It was like Voldemort had forgotten who his most devoted servant was, and just used her memories. It was the same thing with Crouch Junior."

"Crouch?" Sally asked stunned. "I thought that was some vigilante –"

"It wasn't. Whoever this new player is, they're not on our side. They have Voldemort's magic, it's like it is him, but that's not possible, because all our spies reported that he's in Germany! And unless he can be in two places at once, _none of this makes any sense_!"

She watched his fury, with no small amount of uneasiness. This was a bad time to come here.

"May be he can clone himself." Sally said.

Sirius raised his head, looking at her as though saying 'Seriously?'

"Witches and wizards can't do that?"

"The only cloning we can do involves physical changes, not an entire power duplication, personality changing, memory altering transformation. At least, not that I know of."

Sally dropped her head, thinking hard. "Alright… what about Kreacher?"

"Kreacher? Cloning abilities are not his strengths."

"No, I meant. How long has he been missing?"

Sirius shrugged, "Two days, I would guess. Really, I think he just died. Probably rotting away in the cellar…"

"Right…" She swung her legs, feeling giddy. There was a bubbling sensation in her stomach.

"Sally… you look pale." Sirius said, stepping away from the stove and towards her.

"Yeah… no… I mean… There's an appraisal happening at the office next week."

"Oh! That's good, right?"

"It is… My boss's put in a good word… the HR head's a fan of my first book… he's been wanting to meet Percy and Harry… it's been weird to say the least."

"Any problems?"

"Not really. 80% chance of looking at a promotion… a direct assistant editor on the main team…"

"That's great!" Sirius spluttered. He stretched his arms out and she leaned into his embrace. "That's brilliant! Why didn't you open with that? Why are you worried? You deserve it!"

"Yeah…" She muttered again, fingers curling over the back of his robes. "I have an appointment scheduled at the clinic today…"

"What clinic? Appointment?"

"It's just a check-up."

"For what?"

"A pregnancy test."

The kettle whistled. Neither of them moved from the hug that was becoming increasingly awkward. Sirius seemed to have frozen and Sally was bracing herself against his shoulder.

"Um… what?" He squeaked. She pulled back to look at him.

"Well, I've been feeling off for the past couple of days… nothing too bad. I was searching through the med cabinet for Advil and came across a home test I had. I thought I'd try it… it turned out positive. After that I couldn't get rid of this anticipatory feeling. The appointment is to confirm if I am or am not… I mean, it's probably just a scare. I've had one before. The pregnancy scare, I mean, not a kid. Actually, I had a kid before. You know Percy. Of course you do. What am I saying? I mean, I've had a scare before and that was a real scare, because any kid of Gabe would have been distressing to say the least, but I remember, I checked with a home test back then, and it turned out negative and this huge wave of relief just hit me, so now I need to just check it with a doctor… The appointment's at nine, NYC time."

Sally stopped to catch her breath. Sirius was still staring at her, eyes huge, body frozen. Then he blinked.

"Oh." He said.

She had a feeling she shouldn't have told him. The kettle was jumping on the stove. She should have waited until after the doctor visit, to be sure.

His eyes dropped to her stomach, as though searching for something.

"Stop that!" She snapped, yanking the edge of her jacket to cover her front.

"Sorry, I… are you sure…?"

"No, I'm not. That's why I have the appointment."

"Right! Of course…"

He dropped his arms and looked at her like she was completely different than the person that had been speaking to him, not two minutes ago.

"Do… do you want me to come wit –"

"Oh gods! No, please don't. I mean… I think, I'll just get this done quickly… it's probably just a feeling."

He nodded before flicking his wand towards the kettle, which settled down immediately.

"For the record… any kid of yours would never be distressing." Sirius mumbled. Sally couldn't help her grin.

* * *

 _Sunday, Nov 11, 12:00 p.m.  
Knockturn Alley, London _

Percy stepped carefully, avoiding the shattered glass and blood. Tom was in a bad mood. Two goblins lay on the floor, beside three humans, all unconscious. A fourth man was cowering by the upturned table.

Tom had spent the better part of an hour doing his mind reading tricks on them. Their shocked, terrified eyes were imprinted in Percy's head. It was almost enough to make him forget about Azkaban. He'd thrown up once, hopefully out of sight.

The morning newspaper had deigned that Bellatrix was dead, which had started Tom in a happy attitude. Their plan had been to interrogate the owner of a dingy shop in Knockturn Alley, a goblin whose cousin worked at the back. The same cousin who spend lunch at the shop. Tom had been piecing together a viable way to steal Hufflepuff's cup from the Lestrange vault.

But the interrogation went downhill when Marius, the guard at the bank, admitted that Bellatrix was still alive. Apparently, goblins had ways of understanding which owners have died and which hadn't. Tom did not take the news well.

Percy stood by the wall, trying to hide in its shadow. So far, Tom had gotten the vault number from the goblin's mind. Number 856, equipped with all kinds of dangerous enchantments… But the guard had no way of knowing what kind of protections lay over it, so…

"Dead end." Tom finally growled, knocking over the shelf that had no valuable information. He didn't even raise his hand this time. He simply narrowed his eyes at the crying man. The red and black aura around his form pulsated and red light shot out from in front of him, striking the man like a laser. Percy flinched.

Then, he turned towards Percy. His eyes had that same dim red glow. It was starting to look normal for him.

"I told you to kill her."

"I'm bad at listening to orders." Percy's comeback wasn't as strong as he'd wished. His voice was a croak but Tom heard him clearly.

"I thought you'd be taking this seriously. Seeing as how the party will be scheduled soon…"

"I'm not good at killing people!" Percy's heart started to thud. He didn't want to imagine the damage Tom could wreak on everyone.

"You killed those Death Eaters during the Third Task, with no problems."

"I didn't really have a choice there."

"And Crouch, let's not forget that."

"You made me do that!" Percy burst out, feeling angry all over again.

Tom simply looked at him. "What d'you think will happen if they find something in Lestrange's memories? What if they see you? Your little diplomatic party will be over before it begins. If the wrong people find out that you're no human, that's it."

"I pushed her under the water till she stopped moving. I don't have a PhD in murder."

"You barely have an OWL in being an Ancient Greek hero." Tom muttered, turning away. He waved his hand lazily.

Everything in the room that had been broken flew back into its original place. The glass shards from the window were fixed into a seamless, grimy pane, the furniture were righted, and the dust was back in its place. Aside from the five people outcold, the little bar was in its non-pristine shape.

Percy had to use his inhaler. "Stop that."

"Stop what? Cleaning up our tracks? Do you actually want to get caught?"

"You know it drains me." Percy argued when Tom only rolled his eyes.

"I've told you once and I'll tell you again. I just want to find all the pieces and then I'll be out of your hair." Tom turned on his heel, exiting the shop.

"Aren't you worried of someone finding them?"

"Now you're worried?"

Percy didn't answer that. "How will you get into vault 856?"

Tom tilted his head. Percy wore nondescript dark robes which blended perfectly in the foreboding crowd of Knockturn Alley. Nobody could see Tom, yet people gave him a wide berth, probably sensing there was something about Percy. No one accidently crashed into Tom.

"Noble families generally have a double lock system. One key with the owner, and the other with the head authority at the bank. The deeper you go, the stricter the enchantments. Luckily, you can walk into seemingly all buildings… you may not need keys to open a vault door. We need to get past all the goblins and into the tunnels without detection. That will be trickier."

Tom smiled. Percy swallowed.

"The good thing is… in times of national distress, the bank can call a shutdown of services. If we orchestrated such an event, we can get in and not be caught… probably."

"National distress?" Percy repeated.

"A case of emergency… anything that can threaten security. For example, a public sighting of Voldemort could do it."

Percy's steps faltered. "You're calling him back here!"

One of the witches leaning against a closed shop turned towards Percy. Percy looked away, walking faster.

"I am not calling him anywhere." Tom sighed. "I don't need to. There are plenty of ways to threaten national security. Another example, would be a discovery of a new species, potentially dangerous to all of wizardkind."

It took Percy a whole second to understand it. "That's not an option."

"I won't have to do anything." Tom laughed. "If the Ministry finds out you were connected to Lestrange escaping, it'll put the spotlight on you. And if you get arrested, one of the first tests they conduct, will be to check your species. Discovering demigods walk among us would easily put a damper on the holidays."

He walked with a spring in his steps. Percy's gait was stiff. He had hoped that Bellatrix would recover enough to tell someone about Tom Riddle, searching for something, or at least about the trouble Percy was in. He didn't think it could backfire this badly.

"So… you better schedule the party sooner than later… any dates?"

Percy almost didn't want to answer. He shouldn't, he really –

"This term, def."

Tom nodded. "Good. We shall part ways before the holidays."

* * *

 _Wednesday, Nov 14, 1:00 p.m.  
Hogwarts, Scotland _

They were falling into a rhythm. Every morning, they would check in with DJ, Fred, George, Susan, and Daphne who were in charge of supplies. Lee and Zabini (of all people) were tasked with music, while the Ravenclaws were masterminding the exact schedule of how exactly were they to get a sizeable number of students out and back in the castle without capture.

Because Ginny did not want to shoulder that headache. She entered the common room, having finished with the morning classes. Colin and DJ had had a free hour since they hadn't taken Muggle Studies as an elective. Ginny had hoped that they'd have more news about Bellatrix Lestrange.

There were atleast twenty Gryffindors in the common room and they were all crowded around the centre couch.

DJ was yelling at them. " _– idea of a joke, it's not funny_!"

"You really think someone from the castle would have done this?" Lavender asked.

"Who else could say that stuff about him?!" DJ shouted.

"What's going on?" Ginny asked, raising her voice.

Seamus held up the Witch Weekly magazine. "Latest gossip."

He tossed it to her and she caught the open book, finding the dog eared page quickly. Her eyes bugged out when she saw Harry's face looking up at her. It was a photo from the summer, most likely. Harry was standing next to Sirius, who had his arm over his shoulder. The background was the large white building of St. Mungo's.

 **Sordid Secrets of the Bi Who Lived - a precursor to the upcoming biography on Harry Potter** **  
\- Rita Skeeter**

Ginny glared at the name. DJ had told her about Skeeter having broken into Frost just over the weekend. Even with the threat of arrest, she'd gone ahead and posted this?

 **Would you say that you know everything about the Chosen One? Well, dear reader, that may not be so. After the events of the Triwizard Tournament and the subsequent murder of Barty Crouch Jr., this reporter has gathered quite a lot of evidence on the potential destructive qualities that plague young Mr. Potter.**

 **We have become accustomed, as it would seem, to Potter's strange life. Scores of witnesses at the Third Task swear that they saw Potter come back to life. We know such an event could not have happened, so what did happen? Is it the body's inability to handle the fatigue? Clearly sleep can only go so far as to cure trauma, but then again, certain sources say that Mr. Potter cannot have sweet dreams.**

 **I propose a theory. Potter's Core magic is one of the exponentially limitless kind. Nature magic is not meant to be harnessed by man, and yet, we have possibilities of Elemental Cores. Potter inherited his Core (a subset of Elemental) from the late, sadly delirious, Lily Evans. Companions of the witch had noticed odd activities of her, writing on the nearest available surface, about the most peculiar things. One of the friends I have interviewed (who have chosen to remain anonymous) recall, rather vividly, that Evans used to have mild healing powers and strange vision like fugue states at times.**

 **What does plant power have to do with healing and visions?**

 **The surface level may present a banal excuse, but deep research has proved that this question pokes at existential level theories. As nature is meant to be a resource of people, in physical manifestations, it may be meant to physically heal people, as well. Let's keep that in mind, readers.**

 **What about the visions? Was Lily Evans prone to daydreams or did she have Seer abilities? Well, we can be sure that Evans could not have been a Seer, or she would definitely have known that her life may have been in danger. Daydreams do not seem mystical, though. So, I put forward the idea that she may have been prone to extreme stress of the war. Trauma and its recovery are never straight lines.**

 **And this is what, I fear, ails her son, Harry Potter. He has been known to possess similar, yet unexamined healing powers, a subsection of his Core magic. Be advised, he is not a Born Healer. There has not been a Born Healer since the 1940s, we believe. But Potter's secondary abilities may explain strange unexplainable circumstances.**

 **His trauma of the Third Task could have caused him to degenerate into averse behaviours, which is where I bring in Crouch Jr.**

 **When I read the paper, one fine morning, the headlines stunned me. Mad-Eye Moody, known to be the only soul to have survived more than one year in his post of Defence Against the Dark Arts teaching, was actually Bartemius Crouch Junior, masquerading as the professor. Several questions had run through my mind. How could he have successfully pulled off such a stunt right under famed Albus Dumbledore's abnormally crooked nose? How could none of the castle's security been alerted to this gross breach of safety?**

 **Very vital queries, but one of the less asked questions was, who killed him? And how?**

 **Allow me to elaborate, patient readers. We have a murder in the saccharine village of Hogsmeade, during the school trip. There were up to four hundred students, at least eighty security personnel, twenty shopkeepers, and forty regular customers. One of them was the murderer.**

 **One of them lured Crouch Jr. into the cellar of Zonko's, a beloved establishment. One of them managed to outwit the Death Eater and kill him.**

 **But here are a few addendums. This person was powerful. Crouch Jr. did not meet his end from the Killing Curse. Reports on the post mortem detected evidence of a stab wound, right through the heart, strong enough to break ribs. The wound was made by a double edged blade, but that wasn't all. When the Aurors found the body, there had not been a mark on it.**

 **So, what does that mean?**

 **The autopsy had revealed the method of death. There had been magic, pure and simple, that had covered up the M.O.D. Not a glamour, readers, but healing magic. The murderer killed Crouch Jr. with a blade and had then healed him.**

 **Now, we have a dead Death Eater, with signs of murder having been conducted by one had the ability to perform certain restorative acts. I am not pointing fingers, but am merely stating the facts. None need a NEWT to spot the obvious.**

 **I have procured certain information on the Aurors interrogating Harry Potter, the day of the murder. Why would they need to question him on such a caustic act? Harry Potter is the Boy-Who-Lived, not the Boy-Who-Killed.**

 **Here is the statement. Potter said that he'd been 'swinging' in the forest.**

 **Yes, readers, you read that right. A fifteen year old child had been interrogated after a murder, and he could not give a decent explanation of his whereabouts.**

 **Now… I could tell you the rest of the story, but with word limits… you will have to pre-order my book,** _ **Harry Potter, A Bi-ography**_ **.**

 **A spoiler: This boy swings both ways and is fond of puns. That is where Percy Jackson comes in, I suspect.**

Ginny turned the page, but there was no more. The article ended there, with Skeeter's signature at the bottom. She felt her palms heat up and one of the pages caught on fire.

DJ, having expected it, caught her wrist. She was about to scold him, but realised that the flames extinguished immediately. He was getting good at that.

"I knew he was gay!" Dave, DJ's dormmate, cheered.

"He's not gay, you git. He's bi! Don't erase it." Colin snapped.

Ginny turned to DJ. "Where is he?"

DJ cringed, "Probably at lunch. He wouldn't have seen the article in class unless someone – "

The portrait burst open and Hermione and Ron stumbled in, panting. Ginny's stomach dropped. Harry wasn't with them.

"Where's Harry?" DJ complained.

Ron inhaled. "We were in Charms… Terry told us about the article… Harry stormed out."

"You don't know where he is?" George groaned.

"May be, he's gone to see his boyfriend?"

"Not now, Dave!"

DJ whispered to Ginny. "He might have actually gone to New York."

Ginny frowned. "But we have to make sure."

Hermione snatched the slightly charred magazine from Ginny's hands. "We checked the library, the Great Hall, the greenhouses, all the classrooms on the second and third floors, the staircases, the Come and Go Room, we couldn't find him anywhere!"

DJ clicked his tongue. "I'll call Percy."

Ginny nodded, watching as Hermione started to rally the others in to trying to help them continue the search. If it had been Ginny, who was accused of murder and forced out of the closet in one go, she'd want to set something on fire. Possible Skeeter.

There was a high chance that Harry did leave the castle, but Ginny tried to think of all the places in Hogwarts where he might have taken refuge.

And something came to her instantly.

She turned around and hopped up the stairs, sprinting right up till the seventh floor where the seventh year girls' dorm lay. She ignored the door and walked until the window, swinging it open. With a kick, she pushed off the sill and pulled herself up, placing her knee on ledge. When her hold was firm, she sat on the edge of the tower roof. She carefully knelt and moved around the side, over to the section above the second window which lead to the boys' side of the tower.

Harry had occupied that space, concentrating on his guitar so hard that Ginny was surprised that he didn't break it.

"Hey." She said, sitting down. Her back was against the slope of the conical roof, legs straight, her knees not even reaching the edge.

Harry exhaled. "Hey. How did you know I'd be here?"

Ginny raised her eyebrows. "Well, I know you'd want to be alone. And everyone knows you might have gone to New York, so that's the last place you'd go."

He looked at her, mildly impressed.

"Nice."

"Not really, it was just a guess."

"A good guess. I suck at guessing."

Ginny nodded. "What're you playing?"

Harry looked at the guitar. "Just practicing C major. It's awful."

"But I've heard you play. You're good at it."

"I haven't played in months. I've forgotten how to string the thing. My fingers hurt. And I dropped all three picks into the hole."

Harry lifted the guitar and shook it. Ginny could hear thin rattling from within the hollow of the body.

He set it down on his lap. "Then again, I might be going through trauma and killing people, which is why I can't play the guitar."

Ginny sighed. "A bit of practice will help you."

"You're right. I should start with Skeeter."

She grinned. Then she looked at the broom on the other side of him. The Firebolt's twig ends stuck out by his shins.

"Been flying?"

"Not yet. Just trying some spells on it."

At her curious look, Harry stuck two fingers into his mouth gave a soft whistle.

The Firebolt hovered on its own, gliding artfully and coming to a stop in front of Harry.

"A Summoning charm?"

"A cool Summoning charm." He corrected, catching the broom by the middle of the handle.

Ginny wanted to ask about the article directly, but felt it better to wait till he opened about it.

"Have you ever been afraid of something that you used to love?" Harry asked. The question felt odd to her, and she had to think about it.

"Do gnomes count? I used to think they were the sweetest things. Then one of them bit me and I refused to de-gnome the garden until after I got my magic."

Harry coughed. "I've never heard of Ginny Weasley afraid of silly things."

"That's a family secret that I've divulged to you." She warned. But he was smiling and she was glad that she could help him in some way.

He looked at his broom. "There was this guy… in Rome. His name is Ajax. He threw a grenade at me, and I guess it killed me?"

Ginny blinked. "What?"

"It killed me." He repeated. "The thing was small and golden, almost exactly like a snitch. But it had green letters on the side. It was Greek Fire. I was being stupid. I saw a golden sphere and my mind immediately went, 'Hundred and Fifty points, catch it!'"

She repeated the word 'grenade' in her head. A bomb. That's what he meant. Someone had _thrown_ a bomb at him.

"Shit." She whispered.

Harry chuckled. "Shit, indeed. The thing that happened afterwards was more unbelievable, but I'm still processing that so…"

He leaned back, looking at the orange sky. "I'm seeing a therapist."

She nodded, still dumbfounded.

"I guess I do have trauma."

"Harry – "

"I'm counting on you to not make a big deal about this." Harry said, looking at her, eyes turning urgent. "Everyone else will freak out, I want one person to just… be there."

Ginny felt complimented and insulted at the same time. She wanted to freak out. She wanted to shriek and set something on fire. There was nothing sane about the picture. How could you have a bomb lobbed at you and keep living every day without breaking down?

But he did break down. She remembered waking up to rumours of Harry being in the hospital wing after having been admitted overnight. No physical injury. No, all the damage was on the inside.

She nodded, a little stiff. "Okay."

Harry breathed out, slightly less tense than before.

"Anything else?" She asked, hoping he'd say something more about…

"Yeah." He said. "Percy's not my boyfriend. Annabeth would kill me."

Ginny cackled. That, she could picture with no trouble.

"I am bi, though."

She gave him the biggest smile she could muster up. "Cool."

His eyes seemed to sparkle and it made her wish she would have said 'yes' to his offer of a date… but she wasn't about to go out with anyone who didn't honestly make her excited. As good looking Harry was (especially without his glasses, not that he wasn't bad before, but he was just … sharper, now) she just knew she would find the date boring after a while.

"When… when I asked you out…" Harry said, apparently on the same thought as she. "I meant it. I do like you, and I think you're really amazing."

Ginny felt her entire face grow hot. "Thanks."

"I'm serious."

"I know… it's just… I wish I could like you like that. I mean… I did before. If you're asked me last year, I would have jumped on top of your head and screamed 'yes' into your ears."

Harry stared. "… that's vivid."

"Yeah… but, it's not that you're any less. I just don't think of you like that anymore. A lot of the times, I look at you, and the things that come to mind are 'DJ's brother', or 'a friend', or someone whom I can just yell at because I know you won't take it personally."

She looked at the Firebolt, trying to explain the feeling exactly.

"I've never been called DJ's brother." Harry mused.

"Sorry, I meant cousin – "

"Brother's nice."

"Right. DJ's brother, I'm just trying to say that I don't want to conjure up any fake feeling to like you. And I'm sure you wouldn't want any fake feelings either."

Harry smiled, this time, looking far more relieved. "Thanks for being honest, Gin. You're right, fake feelings aren't… I mean…"

He trailed off. "Shit."

* * *

 _Wednesday, Nov 14, 10:00 a.m.  
Camp Half-Blood, Long Island _

"So, you and Percy?" Malcolm said, lining up the retractable shields in a wooden box, the newest (working) creation from Cabin 9.

"What?" Annabeth sighed, not looking up from her laptop.

"All good there?"

"Of course."

"Hmm."

She gritted her teeth. "What, Mal?"

Malcolm shut the box. "Just a little worried."

"That's nice, thanks."

"No, really. But if you think about it, it was your first fight, right? And you both worked it out, so that's growth."

Annabeth shook her head. "You're more excited about us than I am."

Malcolm narrowed his eyes, shooing her to the side so that he could sit on her bunk. "I'm just worried for you."

"Worried…?"

"What? I can't even look out for you now? It's legit, Annabeth. He sort of scared me that day. I really hope you two talked it out."

"Well, not exactly."

She winced when she felt his gaze harden. Her concentration on the floor and ward design of Frost, faltered.

"Oh gods… please don't tell me…"

She looked at him with a frown. "What are you implying?"

Malcolm grimaced. "Did you, like, make out and push away the problem?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Sure."

"Seriously?"

"Of course not, Malcolm. We're more mature than that!"

"Then what happened?"

"We had dinner, and spoke for five minutes. Basically, we agreed that if he never brought up Luke again, I wouldn't ask him about his outings."

Malcolm gaped. "That's not mature!"

"Well, we're not fighting now."

"But it's not gonna help in a long term relationship. You two'll have to really sit down and work it out!"

Annabeth shook her head. "We don't have the time right now. May be after the party –"

"What if you fight during the party?"

She stopped typing, staring blanking at the space on the screen that indicated the vast grounds of Frost.

"We won't."

"It won't give a good impression. Everyone's counting on Percy, and by extension, you."

"I'm quite aware of that." Annabeth said, feeling irritated by her brother's consistent commentary. "If you're done poking into my love-life…"

Malcolm raised his hands. "I'm just looking out for you. Percy's a nice guy and all, but communication is key. And if you don't have that, it's not much of a relationship. Not to mention, if Percy ever looks at you like that again, you better deck him."

"Wha-at?" Annabeth tried to laugh.

He leveled her with a look. "You know what I'm talking about. He was seriously upset, Annabeth. I really thought he'd …"

Malcolm stopped talking, looking ashamed. Annabeth felt the same. She had been afraid then. For a split second, when Percy had glared at her, she really thought that he would try to hit her, or threaten her. The feeling had lasted for such a short amount of time, yet it frightened the Hades out of her.

"He wouldn't do anything like that." Annabeth said, mostly to reassure herself. "He's never been that way. He's just stressed. It's because of Grover and his dad… Percy's not like that."

Malcolm nodded, looking like he really wanted to believe her wholeheartedly.

Behind his head, the air shimmered, light bending into sunset colours of red and orange. A beam of violet graced through the middle and the mist split the air to reveal a grainy screen with Hermione's face barely visible.

Malcolm frowned. "Hermione?"

"Yes. Can you see me?"

"It's so bad." Annabeth muttered. Iris Messages were really failing. "We can still hear you."

"Okay, is Harry over there?"

Annabeth and Malcolm shared a concerned glance. "No…"

"Wait, I'll check." He said, getting to his feet and heading for the door. Annabeth heard him announcing to the others around their own cabins.

"What happened? Why isn't he in the castle?" She asked Hermione. Though the visual was fuzzy, Annabeth could discern worry in her expression.

"We can't find him here. I mean, he could be here, but we don't know where he is. Morgana, this would have been easier with the map."

"When did you see him last?"

"In class. Rita Skeeter had published an article this morning about him. It… wasn't flattering."

"Skeeter?" Annabeth frowned. "Wait… the insect reporter?"

"Yes!"

"But I though Sally warned her! We were there! If Skeeter spoke anything about us –"

"Skeeter didn't write about you, she targeted Harry, specifically. He's really upset, I'm just worried because we can't –"

Malcolm burst in through the door. "Nope. Harry's absent."

"He isn't here either, Hermione." Annabeth said, thinking of all the possibilities of what Skeeter could have printed about him. The media could be dangerous with known celebrities. And a reporter like her could twist words and write the vilest things possible.

"Nico's at school." Hermione said, frowning till her bushy hair was crinkling. "He said he'll check with Percy and call back."

"Right. Harry might have gone to see them, or Rachel."

"Rachel." Hermione said, puzzled. "Oh! Right. Of course, that's natural."

"He's been to Goode before." Malcolm recalled. "There was this sick video about him tanking this dude –"

"If Harry's the city, we'll find him." Annabeth interrupted him. "Don't worry, Hermione. He probably wants to be alone."

The IM flickered out and Malcolm sighed.

"Gods, the messages are getting worse."

"I know. I think the only reason why this one worked was because Iris is curious about witches and wizards."

* * *

 _Wednesday, Nov 14, 9:10 a.m.  
Goode High School, Manhattan _

Rachel was in Chemistry lab when her cell phone buzzed. She looked up and found the teacher busy with two students in the front. Stealthily, she reached down and grabbed her cell.

 _Annabeth calling._

It wasn't that she had an aversion to the demigoddess (at least, not anymore), but it took her a few seconds to decide whether to take the call.

Finally, she thought, WTH, and swiped the green button.

"Yello?"

"Rachel, did you see Harry today?"

Rachel blinked, looking around the lab, expecting Harry to pop out from behind a fractional distillation set up.

"Um, no. I'm in school –"

"I know, did you see him in school?"

"No. Is he here? I told him to not come unless it's an emergency."

"It sorta is? He's upset about something and nobody in the castle can find him."

Rachel swore, "Damn it. Did you tell Percy?"

"He's not picking up his cell. Is he there?"

"Not in my class. I think he has math now."

"Can you check with him? Hermione IMed Nico, but they're in a documentary screening and he can't get out until 12. If you can't find Percy, call me."

Rachel was tempted to refuse the order, she didn't want to interact with Percy, not after his shenanigan of walking away that day… but if Harry was in her school again…

"Fine." She cut the call without pleasantries and called up for the teacher to go to the bathroom.

Bolt hummed in her mind. _I can try to sniff him out._

"Can you?" Rachel wondered, walking down the hallway. "Is he here?"

 _Can't get his scent._ Her Familiar commiserated. _Can't get Percy's either._

Rachel stopped outside the Math classroom that she was fairly sure was Percy's. "Are you sure?"

"He's not in the room, I know that much."

Rachel deliberated in the empty corridor, feeling a little stupid.

"May be Percy saw Harry here and they went somewhere."

 _May be._

"Good timing." Somebody else said. Rachel jumped, her voice catching in her throat. She spun around and came face to face with Luke Castellan.

Bolt leaped from her neck, landing on four large paws, a breath-taking tiger, big enough to tear one's head off.

Luke barely looked ruffled. Rachel tried to catch her breath. Her heart was beating a mile a minute.

"You…" She stared. His eyes were blue.

"You're not actually here." She realised.

Luke looked impressed. "Good. You can tell the difference. Not many can."

Bolt let out a tiny growl. Rachel swallowed. "Did you take him?"

"Who?"

"Harry?"

Luke exhaled, slipping his hands into his pockets. "Potter?"

"How many Harrys do you know?"

"Five."

Rachel glared at him. Luke smiled. "I haven't taken or even seen your brother."

"What about Percy?"

"No."

"Why should I believe you?"

He shrugged. "I'm just here to talk to you. We had a deal, remember?"

Her blood ran cold and she grabbed the fur on the back of Bolt's neck. Her cell phone was in her other hand, but she couldn't think of anyone to call for help.

 _What about Annabeth?_ Bolt asked.

"Have you come to a decision?" Luke said, idling around like he was modelling for lockers.

Right, that stupid scythe charm was still in her bag, wrapped in newspaper. She had no idea what to do.

"I need more time."

He exhaled, closing his eyes briefly. "Rachel, I don't want to pressure you, but I hope you realise that you can't use that excuse forever. The Titans are growing weary."

She bit her lip to stop from shrieking in frustration. She didn't want it. She wanted to hurl the stupid charm in his face.

"I could give you an answer right now, but you won't like." Rachel snapped.

Luke sighed. "What are you even doing? Why are you here?"

"I go to school here, dumb-dumb."

"I meant, why are you looking for Percy and Harry? They're clearly elsewhere and haven't told you."

Rachel gritted her teeth. "Well, what would you know about worrying about someone. It's not like you have friends!"

"Excuse you, I have plenty of friends."

"And where are they? Obeying your orders?"

Luke shook his head. "You don't even know me, Rachel. You don't have to hate me just on principle."

"I kinda have to." She said slowly, as though he was slow.

Luke narrowed his eyes. "Why? I thought you were neutral. Undecided."

She stared at him, gripping Bolt's pelt tighter. "I am."

He gave her a look that seemed to convey a world of thoughts. His shoulders rolled, his forehead crumpled and he exhaled. "I really don't like your answer."

Rachel placed her thumb on the call button, praying her phone hadn't blinked off. "That's not up to you to decide, is it? Don't you report to someone?"

"He's not gonna like your answer, either."

"He gave me a choice." Rachel barked. "I'm free to choose, aren't I?"

"Are you?"

His short rebuttal made her freeze. Was she? Was she really free to pick a choice without consequence? What if she chose to not take the deal, would the Titans kill her?

An icy dread settled in her stomach, feeling like a perpetual dead weight. Sweat broke out on her skin.

Luke gave another easy smile. "Last warning, Dare. I'll give you some time. Set a date."

"But –"

"Any time before summer, if you will."

"Winter!" Rachel blurted. "I… when the winter holidays start, I'll decide it."

She blinked and he was gone. She had a little more than a month to figure out where she stood.

Rachel didn't like her options.

* * *

 **Medium drama. Hope you enjoyed this. Stay tuned, folks.**

 **Q: Did Rachel ever sketch Luke in canon?**

 **Cabba.**


	41. Promise Not To Be Stupid

**A: Rachel once drew a nine year old Luke, as Percy finds out on The Last Olympian.**

 **Pjsfangirlforlife: Fixed it.  
Catie Cat: Thanks so much! I mean, my summer's been busy. Our term's already started. It's been hectic, and it's gonna get crazier next week.  
Sherlock Harry Winchester: You've got it right. Rachel did sketch him. It was adorable. The drawing, not the scene. You're gonna love this chapter.  
ynvellius: Yup, you're right. Percy did dream about it.  
**

 **FYI, Rachel's sketches are super important. She's a powerful character in my series and showcased to the front more than in canon. Cause, I love her.**

 **Don't get confused by the timelines, I just switch between NYC, Long Island, and Scotland.**

 **Listening to – Don't Let Me Down by The Chainsmokers, ft. Daya**

* * *

 _Wednesday, Nov 14, 2:00 p.m.  
Hogwarts, Scotland _

Harry barged into the emptying Great Hall. Students parted way, not willing to face his ire. He knew he looked pretty mad. His fists were curled and he could hear the mutterings of people who stared at him, some giggling, some wide eyed.

He marched right towards the small gaggle of third year Gryffindors perched near the front of the table. Four of them shrieked and jumped away when they saw him approach. Harry walked ahead and stood right next to a frozen Romilda Vane.

He felt a twisted smirk appear on his face, nearly relishing as the blood drained from her face.

"I suppose if I asked you out now, you wouldn't be interested, would you?" He spat.

Romilda didn't say anything.

"I'm curious, though. Why did you ask me out if you thought I was a murderer?" Harry asked, not able to stop his coarse tone. "Is that your thing, _Romilda_? Is that what gets you going?

Her jaw dropped. "Wh… what…"

"What did you think you'd get from telling everything you'd found out to her of all people?!" Harry yelled.

"I was mad!" She shouted, standing up and trying to glare him down. "All I wanted was one day out and you couldn't even give me the time –"

"So you went and just donated a bunch of conspiracy theories about me?!"

"All you had to do was look at me –"

"SHUT UP!" Harry roared. "You don't get to do that! How could you just tell all that to her?"

Romilda stared. "Wait… it's true?"

Harry glowered. "Yes, all of it's true. I'm a murderer, I'm bisexual, and I'm dating Percy Jackson."

Everyone around them stopped talking. The silence slapped him in the face when he realised that his sarcasm probably didn't reach them.

"Idiots." Harry said. "I'm kidding. _I'm_ not so desperate for attention that I spike people's food with love potions."

Romilda flushed.

"I'm sorry, _what_?" Alex Sykes asked, approaching them. The Head Girl turned towards Romilda. "Love potions are banned at Hogwarts."

"Yeah, so are slippery beetles, but there you go. Don't ever talk to me, Vane, I have no desire to launch myself off the Astronomy tower, yet." Harry snapped, before leaving. His hands shook from the adrenaline and blood roared in his ears. His eyes burnt, but he was determined to not cry.

He found Ginny standing beside Marcus Turner, the Head Boy, and a few other Ravenclaws. They were all in out the demigod secret, Harry realised.

He made a bee-line towards them.

"Party's this Friday. I want to get it over with."

"Harry –" Terry began, but he shook his head. "Let's just be glad Skeeter didn't publish the truth. This is better than anything. Spread the word. I want everyone to get things ready by tomorrow."

* * *

 _Thursday, Nov 15, 3:00 p.m.  
Camp Half-Blood, Long Island _

"They found him, don't worry." Annabeth was saying as Katie Gardner barged into Cabin 6, her hair, miraculously out of place.

"Good!" Katie sighed. "Damn, that boy just gave me a heart attack!"

"Harry's good at that." Annabeth agreed.

"Yeah. So, could you go and calm Percy? He's ready to cause a Tsunami."

Annabeth did a double take. "Percy's here?"

"Yup. And he's… uh…pissed."

That was not as unprecedented as Katie made it seem. While Percy had a reputation for being sort of chill most of the time, Annabeth knew that he could lose his it, especially when it came to people very close to him. He was already very visibly different with Grover's disappearance. If anything had happened to Harry, Katie would not have been exaggerating about the natural disaster.

Annabeth exited her cabin, heading straight towards the growing crowd at the amphitheatre. For a moment, she honestly believed that Percy had gone haywire and a bunch of arms were needed to hold him down.

But she reached the group and could hear Percy's voice, loud and unshaking.

" – not just a party!" Percy called out, no humour in his eyes. He was standing a few steps, looking around the rest of them. Annabeth joined them, standing next to Pollux and Caster.

"We're banking on this, guys!" Percy said. "Yeah, it's gonna be fun and awesome and exciting, but you've gotta remember, we're doing this for our survival! The witches and wizards have less to lose, here. So, we have to go out there, be extra charming and good and likeable!"

Annabeth could see the campers getting nervous. Percy was scaring them. She cursed silently.

"They know what's at stake!" Annabeth announced. Forty faces turned towards her. Percy's eyes found hers. He did not look calm.

"They know it's a big deal for us." She said. "They've agreed to meet us, they trust Harry –"

"But they don't know us!" Percy insisted. "They don't trust us –"

"Not yet!" Annabeth agreed, trying to signal him with a look. He wasn't helping the moral. "But we're hopeful here, because they are aware of our situation –"

"But they are not _in_ our situation! They won't ever really understand!" Percy stepped down, trying hard not to glare at her. Annabeth had to remind herself to not curl her fists. The two of them could not be seen fighting. It would look bad. It would demoralise everyone.

"They sympathise with us." Annabeth said, levelling her voice. "They've helped plan this party with us. We've talked with them, a lot of us know most of them by name, or at least by sight. That's a step forward in the right direction."

Percy looked like he wanted to really argue with her, but she pressed her lips together and his shoulders drooped by a fraction.

Feeling momentarily triumphant, Annabeth raised her voice and addressed the rest. "Yes, it's not just a party. We have to remember that the war is priority. This is part of a whole process of preparation and strategy. Everyone knows this! But this party is also to show the witches and wizards that we can chill and enjoy music and dancing and food, like any regular mortal."

She turned towards Percy, a smile growing on her lips. It didn't even take a moment for him to reciprocate, a grin filling his features. It reminded her of the old Percy, warm and dependable Percy, that she could almost feel the entirety of camp exhale in relief.

"You always set me right, don't you, Chase?" Percy muttered, loud enough for a few people around them to hear. The group chuckled and Annabeth winked at him.

His smile was heavy with clouded angst and she tried to hold her own against his. Turning back to the others he said, "You know what to do. Hope for the best and prepare for the worst. Enjoy the night, but just keep an eye on things, that's all I'm askin'."

Travis gave him a salute, which was followed by dissipating tension.

Clarisse stepped forwards. "You heard the princess. It's a party, but don't forget, it could also be the end of the world. So shape up, practice your lines, and for the love of all of Olympus, no fart arrows!"

A few laughed. Clarisse dismissed them, sending them off to various last minute chores around camp.

Percy was staring at her, expression fading from the smile. Her softness dropped as well, and Annabeth held back a frown.

"What the Hades?!" Clarisse hissed, when they were the only ones left in the amphitheatre. "Jackson, you don't tell a bunch of already nervous, sweaty kids that the party they're going to, could detonate in their faces!"

"They have to know the stakes." He replied, voice clipped.

"We know the stakes." Annabeth said, shortly. "We know this is a deal breaker. Just because we're looking forward to a party, doesn't mean we're gonna forget that. We can't go into this afraid at every turn. And we can't just pretend to have fun. We need to actually enjoy ourselves. Did Harry tell you –"

"Yeah, he did." Percy sounded angry now. "He told me exactly why he wanted the party tomorrow. He just wants this over with before anymore scandal about him breaks over the weekend. Personally, I know nothing about a celebrity's life, but it obviously takes precedence."

Percy shook his head, marching in the direction of the cabins. Annabeth felt a layer of ice settle around her. She shivered.

"Did you make a sacrifice to Athena?" Clarisse's gruff voice chased the ice away, reminding Annabeth of her responsibilities.

"Yes, of course. We reminded everyone in the morning, didn't we? Did your father say anything when you prayed to him?"

"Nope."

Annabeth cursed out loud. "Shit. So far, none of the gods have replied."

"Not even your mom?"

"No."

"What about Poseidon?"

Annabeth blinked. "I don't even know if Poseidon is in any shape to respond to Percy."

"Did he even try? I know Jackson's off –"

"I'll ask him. We can do it now, if he hasn't yet."

Clarisse nodded, looking in the direction of the cabins, as if she could see Percy. "Castor says Mr. D gave off good vibes when they did the offerings. At least, there's that."

"Good. We can't have anything going wrong with tomorrow." Annabeth sighed.

She didn't want to confront him. They had promised to not talk about it. But Annabeth made her way to cabin 3, deciding to let the topic be out for Percy to decide.

She knocked on the door, barely getting three taps in before it swung open and Percy popped his head out.

"Annabeth, sorry, I was busy."

"S'okay. I just wanted to ask –"

"I mean, I am busy. Could you come back later?"

She tried not to bristle at his dismissal of her.

"Are you making the offering now?"

He looked blank. "What offering?"

"To your dad? A sacrifice to make sure the party goes well."

Percy stared at her, long enough for her skin to crawl.

"Are you kidding me, Annabeth? He has worse things to worry about than some stupid party."

"It's not some stupid party! This is important. He knows – "

"He knows that his palace was under attack just a few weeks ago." Percy interrupted. "He's not going to bother with some mortal mixing of people."

"This could be important to the war." She insisted. "We need his blessing. He's the one who granted Harry access into camp. You need to inform him, officially, of this get-together."

Percy turned up to look towards Olympus. Annabeth glared at his throat till he closed his eyes and lowered his head. He still stood at the entrance of his cabin, not allowing her in.

"When did you last hear from Tyson?" She asked, willing herself to calm down.

He didn't answer for a moment, choosing to exhale and open his eyes instead. Annabeth tried to stay angry at him, but she caught the open emotion behind his eyes and felt all the fight leave her body.

He was afraid.

Percy was afraid, she knew, for Grover, for his dad, Tyson… and now the party, where the slightest slip up could potentially ruin all tentative bridges hastily constructed.

"I'm trying…" He whispered. "Tyson spoke to me a few days ago. He was safe, hunkered with a dozen Cyclops in a forge. They found a tunnel into the kingdom, so hopefully, he'll get to dad in time."

Annabeth nodded, stepping closer to him, sighing in relief when he didn't shy away from her. She raised her arm and touched his cheek. His jaw had been stiff and it relaxed under her touch.

"He's tough." She told him. "He'll know what to do."

"He made friends with every one of the forgers." Percy's laugh was shaky. He was trying to smile. This genuine effort was a hundred times better than the fake grin he'd given her in front of everyone, just a few minutes ago.

Annabeth closed in, stepping into his personal space and pressing her lips to her. He relaxed completely into her embrace and she felt as though a warm bubble of air expanded in her chest, expelling any ice or reservation she'd had the entire day.

Her other hand held his neck pulling him closer. The tip of her fingers touched something cold, right at the back of his neck.

Annabeth pulled back in surprise. Percy froze, eyes wide in horror, as though she'd hurt him.

"Percy, …what…?"

But he was already pushing away from her. Annabeth tried to call out, terrified if she _had_ done something wrong, but he was already shutting the door in her face.

* * *

 _Thursday, Nov 15, 10:50 p.m.  
Dynasty Apartment, Manhattan_

Rachel was surprised when Harry had called her via the mirror. She hadn't been asleep yet, still too jittery, thinking about a lot of things ranging from the precise shade of nail polish she had yet to decide on for her toes, to Kronos' request.

But Harry's voice had been shaking when he'd said a simple 'Hello'. That made her turn all attention towards him. It had to at least three or even four in the morning, over at Hogwarts.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"I'm bi." He blurted. Harry's eyes were wide, hair in tufts, sticking up as though he'd run his hands through it too many times. His entire visage looked tired and sleepless. She could nearly make out faint bruises underneath his eyes. DJ would not be happy about that, come morning.

But back to what he'd said…

"By what?" Her heart thudded. Had he said… Rachel swallowed down her gay pride, trying to convince herself to not jump the gun –

"I'm bisexual!" He said. "I… I'm pretty sure… that's the closest word to what I feel… I mean, it's pretty similar to pan, right? I mean, I don't know. I don't want to say something wrong –"

"Harry."

"I'm definitely not straight. I know that! It's just… I just needed more time! I wanted… to make sure, I wasn't sure, I'm still not. But I like the word, it makes so much sense to me, I want to be bi! I love that feeling! I want – I … I don't know, I just needed more time to figure it out. Just a bit more – "

"Harry!" Rachel exclaimed, shocked at his outburst. He wasn't one to ramble like that. Not even when he was nervous. Rachel had noticed that Harry tended to keep his mouth shut in tenser situations. It was Percy or herself that would speak in practically run on sentences when they were unsure.

He stopped talking, looking pale. Rachel hurriedly said, "That's awesome! That's so amazing, Harry! I'm so proud of you! And… who said that you had to figure it out in a time limit? You have your entire life to know who you are! I mean, you told me, that's cool. I won't tell anyone, till you're okay with it –"

"Too late." He said, bitterly. "Rita Skeeter found out through some gossip around the castle. Guess what she published a couple of days ago?"

Rachel blanched. "No… dude! Shit, did she…? Don't tell me she told everyone –"

"It's out, Rachel. I'm out. I… I wasn't ready."

The break in his voice gave away his fear and Rachel had to swallow past the horrible lump in her throat. She felt her hands shake. Setting the mirror on the table, Rachel made fists of her palms.

"I'm so sorry, Harry. That's so low, that's not right. She shouldn't have… Tell Sirius! He'll do something!"

"He told me he's drawing up a lawsuit on her. Not to mention, she now has to sign a restriction order to stay at least a hundred feet from me –"

"That's not enough." Rachel gritted. "She's a bitch. I hope this damages her reputation. You said she's a reporter? That's not reporting, that's dirty. Gods! Are you alright?"

Harry sighed. In the small screen of the mirror, she saw him lower his head. The background revealed to be dark, stone stairs. She guessed he was sitting on the dorm steps leading to his room in the Gryffindor tower.

"Could be better." He sat back, tilting the mirror so she could see the window to his right. "I had no idea it was a lot of work to oversee a party. We need lookouts to stay at the castle while we're at Frost, the schedule, music, food, security, people, games, glitter –"

"Glitter?"

"Yeah… everyone thinks I'm bi, so… glitter."

Rachel forced herself to not smile. "It's fine… I mean, the glitter is fine. You being outed is so not fine. It's the opposite of fine."

Harry tipped his head against the wall. "I'm just strung out. I don't even know if I'll enjoy tomorrow. I just want it to be over. Which isn't the right attitude for a diplomatic mission."

Rachel looked over to Bolt, reclining on her bed. The tiger stared back.

"Cheer him up." She whispered. Rachel frowned and turned to look around her room, trying to find anything that could help Harry, even in the moment.

She found the perfect thing.

Rachel leaned to the side, stretched her arm towards the nail polish containers, smacking the box away, and enclosing her fingers around a small tube.

She straightened back into frame and looked at a tired, but curious Harry. "This is yours."

He blinked at her. "Your lipstick?"

"No. Your lipstick. It's the shade you tried the other day. Magenta Magic. You liked it, remember?"

He stared at the tiny cylinder and she felt nervous. Did he actually like it? Had he worn it because she'd wanted him to, or because he'd been inquisitive about it?

"I can have it?" Harry asked, and there was no mistaking the addition of hope in his low voice.

Rachel grinned. "You're picking me up, aren't you? You can take this, then."

"You want me to wear it for the party?"

"No. That's your choice. You can wear it whenever you want. No one can force you to put it on. And you can take it off whenever you want. Or you can never use it, but no matter what, it's your decision. Do you want the lipstick?"

Harry didn't answer for a bit, but Rachel didn't move, showcasing the tube to him, waiting for his reply.

"Yeah." He finally said. "Yeah, I'd … like it. I'd like it a lot."

He sat up, a smile finally lighting up his face. Then he said, "Ouch!"

Harry looked down at his arm and Rachel saw her surroundings shift.

 _Suddenly, she was standing in a forest. It was cold. Wind whipped through her pajamas, freezing her. She shuddered violently, ears growing sensitive. Rachel wrapped her hands around her, looking around._

 _The trees were tall and planted in wide spaces. Roots, large enough to make a wooden couch frame, stretched from the ground, half lying on the dirt. The mud felt stiff as though it was slowly freezing into ice._

 _Rachel shook, trying to run her hands for warmth. Where was she? She'd been in her room just a second back, hadn't she?_

" _Harry?" She called out. "Bolt? Damn it, it's too cold for this!"_

 _No one answered back. The wind howled and she winced against the icy breath of the forest._

 _Something was glowing in the distance. Rachel felt hopeful, wondering if it was a fire. It had to be. Just staring at the tiny light made her feel warmer._

 _Rachel walked, shuffling her feet in that direction. Her knees seemed to have locked up against the wind. It was a difficult thing to drag her half frozen body. At least, it felt like she was frozen._

" _Harry?" She called out. She'd been talking to him just a while ago. Had he lit a fire to keep them warm? What was he doing in the forest in the middle of the night? What was she doing here?_

 _The glow became brighter and bugger and Rachel hurried towards it, feeling her bones pop as she tried to run. When she reached the spot, she stared._

 _A tree had fallen. Someone had chopped it with an axe, it seemed. Nothing magical there. But the light was coming from the words that had been scratched into the horizontal trunk. Rachel frowned._

 _ **SWEET DREAMS**_

 _Rachel moved towards the words. That was an odd thing to write on a fallen tree. She touched the words. It felt hot like someone had burnt the bark to make the edges shine in the darkness._

 _There was an ominous creaking from above. Rachel swallowed, tilting her head back to catch the sight of a dead body, hanging from a branch above her._

Rachel screamed, throwing the mirror off her lap and scrambling onto her carpet, heart thundering in her throat. Bolt flew towards her, in full tiger form, and Rachel clutched her warm, strong pelt, shivering in fear.

"Rachel!" Harry called out, alarmed. "What happened? Why did you scream?"

She blinked. She still felt like the imprint of the body was in her mind, but it was nearly invisible now. She just remembered it, swinging from a tall tree. What was burnt into her mind were the words 'Sweet dreams'.

She turned towards Harry.

"What hurt you?"

"You're the one who screamed!"

"But you said 'ouch'."

Harry hesitated. "It's nothing… just felt my hand itch."

"Itch?"

"More like a burn."

His words sparked a feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach. "Like someone had burned your skin?"

"Yeah…"

Could he feel that? She knew that he could sense and feel trees in the vicinity, but could he feel it if there was a fallen tree, with burnt words on it?

"Don't go." She whispered.

Harry leaned closer to the mirror. He looked stunned. "What… wait, how'd you know –"

"Don't leave the castle!"

"Rachel – "

But her voice shook, trying to get a grip on what she'd seen. A forest, a fallen tree with words burnt into the trunk, a dead body hanging from a branch…

"Don't go into the forest!" She gasped. Her head was pounded. She couldn't remember what she'd seen. No, she knew what she'd seen… but it felt distant. Like a fading nightmare. She could feel the fear under her skin, but the memory was already being repressed –

"Rachel, what… what did you see?"

"Don't go to the forest!" Rachel grabbed the mirror again. "Harry, whatever you do… what's that on your arm?"

Rachel pushed her face closer to the screen. She'd sworn that his arm had something written on it.

He held his right arm up to the mirror for her inspection. In the light of the moon and the dull corridor fire, she could see dark veins moving along under his skin.

"Oh god! Is that a blood clot?"

"No…" He looked back at his hand and scratched at it. "It feels like a burn… something must have happened in the forest."

He turned to look at the Forbidden Forest outside the window.

"Don't go there." She said automatically.

"An animal must have damaged one of the trees." Harry mused, not looking away from the dark edge of trees.

"Harry."

"I can check it out in the morning."

"NO!" Rachel screeched, so loud that Harry flinched. Bolt leaped to the ground, perching herself as a puppy in Rachel's knee.

"What the hell, Rachel? What's wrong?"

"Don't go to the forest!"

"Why not?" He huffed. "It's a forest, Rach. I'm pretty good with forests, in case you hadn't noticed."

But she felt the fear bubble up again. She couldn't remember her vision expect for the worst parts. Burn, tree, body.

"Please…please, Harry, please don't go in the forest. It's not right, trust me. Just…just trust me, I swear, it feels wrong!"

Harry looked alarmed. "Are… are you crying?"

Rachel felt her eyes well up and rubbed at her face angrily. She hated it when her tears stopped her from insisting on a vital point.

"Why are you crying? Rachel, did you have a vision? What happened?"

She hugged Bolt tighter. "Promise me, Harry."

"What?"

"Don't go there. Swear to me you won't."

"Rachel, that's ridiculous!"

"PLEASE!" She yelled. She looked around her room as though she could find something solid to convince him. She didn't know why, but it felt like the most important thing in the world to make sure that Harry did not venture into the forest.

Her eyes fell on the Scythe charm bracelet, sticking out of the newspaper she'd wrapped it in. It was on her desk, atop a few sheets of paper. The metal seemed to glint at her, reminding her of her pending decision.

"Look." Rachel turned back to Harry, words tumbling into each other. "If you promise me that you won't go in the forest, I'll promise to stay away."

Harry's jaw dropped. "Stay away from what?"

"You." She said. The word tasted horrible. "I'll stay away from you, DJ, from Percy… I'll not get involved. I'll not come to the party. I'll just stay here and be normal. But you have to promise me that you will not go into that forest!"

Her heart was still racing. The adrenaline rush was making her jittery. Bolt was staring at her, shocked at her words. Harry was speechless.

What had she said?

Did she just say that? Out loud?

The party was supposed to help the demigods make allies with the witches and wizards. Rachel shouldn't be there. She was a liability. The Titan had reached out to her and she had not refused him yet. He was their enemy. She couldn't be near them.

"Tell him." Bolt whispered.

Rachel couldn't imagine what Harry would say if he knew the truth. Would he think her a traitor?

"Rachel…" His voice was impossibly soft. "What did you see?"

It took her a while to respond. "I'm not sure. But it wasn't good. I'm scared –"

"I'll keep you safe." He said. He seemed angry, furious even. "No matter what, Rachel, I'll be there. If you want to come to the party, I won't stop you. No one will stop you."

"That's not –"

"I won't go to the forest." He continued, trying to be patient. "I promise, I won't. But you can come to the party. You don't have to be scared, no one will hurt you."

"That's not what I'm worried about." She snapped. "It's not… I thought you didn't want me there."

"I never said that."

She shot him a look of disbelief.

Harry had the decency to look sheepish. "Alright, that was poorly said. I mean, I want you at the party. I want you to meet everyone and … it's… you're my friend, Rachel. I won't leave you out, unless that's what you choose."

She stared. His words froze her. The charm bracelet was nothing. Kronos' offer felt nothing compared to Harry admitting that.

"Friend?" She said, hesitantly, as if she was testing the word. It felt a little odd.

He shrugged. "You're the first person I came out to. That's got to mean something, huh? Even though thousands of people found out before you."

Rachel was touched. She never thought Harry would ever admit something like that. When she'd told him about her pansexuality, she hadn't expected a reply in kind. She'd hoped it, of course. (Who doesn't want queer friends?)

"Not to mention other stuff that's not exactly legal… Skeeter's more right than she knows." Harry gave a self-deprecating chuckle.

Rachel had the insane urge to hunt down Rita Skeeter and shake her to reason.

"Bottom line, Rachel. No matter what happens, I'll do everything I can to keep you safe." Harry told her, looking right at her, without blinking. "I promise, you can call me anytime you think something's wrong, I'll come over. If it's a stupid dream, or an apocalyptic vision, it doesn't matter. I swear, you'll be safe."

And even as he said it, Rachel thought his bracelet, the one on his upper left arm, seemed to give off a soft blue glow.

* * *

 _Friday, Nov 16, 08:00 a.m.  
Hogwarts, Scotland_

It was like fate was trying to test his promise to Rachel.

First off, he'd shocked himself when he'd admitted all that to her. A friend? Could he call her that? Where they friends?

Well, if nothing. At least, he'd managed to stun her into silence. Her face had been quite a hilarious sight and had it been a light hearted moment, he may have even laughed. She'd looked ridiculous, mouth open, eyes wide and staring at him as though he were an alien.

Don't go into the forest, she'd said.

And where was Harry now?

He was walking on the grounds of the castle, Ron and Hermione hurrying up behind him. He was heading towards the forest.

The burn in his arm hadn't subsided. He could still feel the sharp itch of it. Something in the forest was in pain. Someone might have set a part of it on fire. There was no smoke in the horizon, so he had to rule that out. Still, he remember the night of the Quidditch World Cup, when the Death Eaters had set part of the camping area's forestry on fire. He could feel the heat of it burn through his arms and chest as though he were the one being lit.

Harry stopped beside Hagrid's hut to look at the edge of the forest. Why had she pleaded him to not go there?

Hermione stopped beside him, panting. She placed a hand on Ron's shoulder, kneeling and breathing deeply.

"So, you gonna stop being so cryptic any time soon?" Ron asked, slinging his bag higher. Harry sighed.

"I told you, something wrong. I can feel it."

"I can see it." Ron replied, looking at the red veined arm.

"Tell me again." Hermione sighed. "Your sister called you –"

"We were already talking, actually."

"She said she saw something."

"She didn't say that. I guessed it."

"Your sister had a vision?"

"Probably. She's prone to them."

Ron whistled. "A squib with the Inner Eye. I do not envy her."

Hermione shook her head. "But it's… it shouldn't be possible. If she has no magic, she shouldn't be able to do that."

"The demigods seem to think that mortals can have certain abilities, to a limit."

"But your sister isn't a witch!"

"Hermione –"

"It's… may be she does have magic."

"She doesn't. I've tried to feel an aura, she doesn't have any."

"That doesn't say anything." Ron waved a long arm. "All muggles have auras. It depends on who actually has the ability to see or sense them in any way."

"Well, I can sense them." Harry insisted. "And she doesn't have a Core."

"But if your sister can do something –"

"Alice Cullen can see the future." Harry pointed out. "She isn't a witch. She was never one."

Hermione exhaled, looking very unhappy with the solid reasoning. "Even so… fine! Fine, let's say your sister could see into the future, why would you come here after she specifically made you swear not to?"

Harry blinked. "You like calling her my sister."

Hermione's façade of being calm broke. "That's because you _have_ a _sister_!"

"Here we go again." Ron whispered, trying not to smile.

Hermione rounded on him. "Oh please! You were excited too when you found out about her!"

"That's because… come on! I sort of knew her when we were younger! It's awesome!"

"It is awesome!" Hermione agreed. She turned back to Harry. "It's wonderful! You have a sister!"

"Say that louder." Harry mumbled, trying not to fall into the happiness she was exuding.

"Does she look like you?"

"She looks nothing like me." Harry said, looking back towards the trees. "Besides, you won't see her real face. She'll be under the glamour."

"Oh." Hermione deflated. "Right, of course."

The three fell silent and looked into the forest. It seemed peaceful enough, if not for the cold. The breeze started to pick up, turning the place a little frostier than it was before.

"I don't want anything to ruin today." Harry muttered. "If we go there, we'll find out what she saw in her vision."

"But if we go there, you'll be going right against her instructions." Ron pointed out, looking around. Nobody was on the grounds. Winter was approaching quickly this year. Even with the sun shining, the outside air could turn cold within seconds.

Harry recalled the water in her eyes as she begged him to not go. Rachel had been terrified of something. It made Harry want to investigate, more than anything. What if it was something really horrible? Harry had nature magic, he would be safest in a forest. Hermione's Earth Core and Ron's Water Core would keep all three of them safe. They were quite nearly invincible in the setting they stood in.

And besides… it's not like Harry could die.

"Breakfast will be over soon." Hermione said, slowly. He could hear her hesitate.

"Right. Friday special, bacon and mashed potatoes." Ron said enthusiastically. "Let's go, Harry."

Or may be Rachel had been terrified for him. Whatever she'd seen, it had been horrifying enough for her to forget it almost immediately. What if she'd seen him get attacked?

Harry clutched the strap of his bag, feeling the weight of the day's class books. The bag also contained a few dormant Sneakoscopes for Frost. He had a responsibility of setting up for the party. He had somewhere to be. He couldn't go off snooping into the forest, searching for something that could potentially harm him.

Harry stared down at his arm. The veins were still red, showing a kind of inflammation.

He could tell, it would be there when they'd come back the next day.

"Alright…" Harry muttered. "Let's go."

He turned his back on the forest, feeling the pain in his arm spike. It was as if something in the trees were calling him back.

… _**you have to promise me that you will not go into that forest!**_

He heard Hermione and Ron catch up to him, Ron patting his back.

 _ **I thought you didn't want me there.**_

They walked back to the castle. Harry could almost imagine someone's eyes on him.

 _ **I'll do everything I can to keep you safe.**_

If Harry went and got himself killed because he was being stupid, he wouldn't be able to keep Rachel safe. And he'd promised that on his own volition.

* * *

 **That was a ride! Next stop, party time! Stay tuned, everyone!**

 **Q: Who is the oldest born Olympian deity?**

 **Cabba**


	42. Relax, It's a Party

**Sherlock Harry Winchester: You got the answer right! And yes, Harry's going to have a long road ahead of him. And Rachel's story is getting interesting as well! Percy will definitely not walk away from this unscarred.**

 **A: Hestia is the oldest Olympian deity. She's the last Olympian because she was the last to be regurgitated by Kronos.**

 **Listening to – Timber by Pitbull, ft. Kesha**

* * *

 _Friday, Nov 16, 11:00 a.m.  
Dynasty Apartments, Manhattan _

Rachel knew she was supposed to be getting ready for the party, but she'd hit a road block with her outfit and had given up.

Luke's voice resonated in her head.

 _Last warning, Dare. I'll give you some time. Set a date._

And Rachel had opened her stupid mouth and set a stupid date in the near future.

… _when the winter holidays start, I'll decide it._

Nice. She had about a month's time to either take up a Titan's offer (and doom her friends), or choose to stick with her friends (and doom herself).

Rachel groaned and threw the book she was sketching on, across the room. She grabbed her head and curled up on the rug beside her bed. She had regrets.

Bolt lay on her bed, in the form of a tiger. She stuck out her head and licked Rachel's hair.

"I just combed it, Bolt."

"When are you gonna tell them?"

Rachel clutched at Bolt, unable to imagine having to confess to Percy about Luke. He wouldn't understand. He wouldn't listen. Not this version of Percy, the one who didn't want to have anything to do with her.

"What about Harry? He's told you a lot." Bolt tried.

 _No matter what happens, I'll do everything I can to keep you safe... I promise, you can call me anytime you think something's wrong…_

Rachel grimaced. Harry might listen, but what could he do? Witches and wizards were no match for Titans.

Her cell rang, breaking the abject silence of the house. Rachel let it ring, for a bit before sighing and grabbing for it.

"Yello?"

" _Rachel, sweetie?"_

She blinked. "Aunt Sandy… Salut."

Sandy was not really her aunt, but a life-long friend of her mother's. Rachel could almost hear her aunt frown. " _What's wrong?"_

"Just in a mood. How are you? How's the season?"

" _Season's good. I just called to say that I'm coming to New York for the holidays_."

"Didn't you already tell me this?"

" _Did I? Why d'you sound so sad?"_

Rachel struggled for a bit. "I'm bored, that's it."

" _How's school?"_

"Eh."

" _Rachel… where's your mom?"_

"She's gone to Juneau for the weekend. Dad's with her."

" _You're alone!_ _Ça ne me plaît pas_." (I don't like it.)

"Sandy, laisse tomber…" Rachel sighed. (Forget it.)  
She didn't want to deal with this. Rachel shoved the scythe charm in her drawer, determined to forget about it for the day. She had skipped school just to get her mind in order.

" _I'm calling your mom_." Sandy said, loudly.

Rachel jerked."What? No! I… I'm going out now."

" _Where? You're supposed to stay at school right now."_

She wanted to groan. "Yeah, but…um… Harry's in town, so I thought I could just hang out with them… No big deal. It'd almost the weekend and this is the first time I'm skipping classes. Come on, Sandy! Just with friends. You know them, Harry and DJ."

" _Right then_." Her aunt's voice was so dry and Rachel wanted to wince.

"Sorry. It's just… mom and dad don't know I'm going out –"

" _Rachel!"_

"But please, please, don't tell them! They already don't like Percy…"

" _Then tell me where you're going_."

"Just over to Harry's, I mean, Percy's. Yeah. I mean, Harry's staying here for the weekend. So a bunch of us are just hanging out at Percy's house for the weekend."

Sandy hummed over the line. " _You're not lying to me, are you?"_

"C'mon, would I?"

" _Yes_."

"Aunty!" Rachel whined. "Please, please, please – "

" _Oh for … fine. I'm seriously busy now, so. Just call me when it gets late. And if you forget, I'm telling your parents_."

"Thanks, Aunt Sandy. Say _hi_ to Genie for me!"

She cut the call and threw the phone on the bed, feeling a bit better. Rachel lifted her head and looked at her wardrobe. She groaned out loud.

Someone knocked on the door.

"GO AWAY!" She screamed, burying her head in a pillow.

Muffled voices came up from the hallway.

"It's us, Rach."

DJ sounded very excited. She groaned again while Bolt leaped up from the bed and crossed the room to open the door.

Harry stood behind DJ, both of them wide-eyed at being greeted by a tiger, but that was her life now, so… get used to it.

"I have nothing to wear." She told them.

They looked over to her walk in closet. From their point of view, Rachel knew they could see at least twenty dresses on hangers.

"Sure." Harry said, sceptical.

"We got you your disguise!" DJ chirped, bouncing on her bed. She opened her eyes and caught sight of a pendant swinging in front of her face. It was oval and brown, set in a thin metal casing with small designs.

"It's… pretty." She said. It looked nearly as lovely as the scythe charm. Yay.

"Try it on!"

She sighed, sitting up and grabbing for the delicate looking metal chain. Bolt changed into a puppy, looking up at her expectantly. Harry kneeled down and picked up her sketch book.

Rachel drew in a breath and pulled the chain over her head. The moment it settled around her throat, she felt the air over her skin grow warm. It felt like a live wire, one that wouldn't explode.

Three pairs of eyes grew bigger in excitement.

"Looks good." Harry said. "Anthony did a great job."

Rachel stood up to look into a mirror, raising her hand to touch her now straight hair. Her voice faltered when she saw her reflection.

The tangled mess was gone, replaced with sleek, shiny and straight brown hair. Her eyebrows had darkened as well, eyes turned into a dull green, almost brown. Her face seemed different too, but she couldn't point it out, except for the fact that her freckles had all but disappeared.

Rachel touched her cheeks. It was her. But it didn't look like her. She looked _good_.

"Are these your boots?" DJ asked, looking over her tan, ankle-length boots by the nightstand.

"Yeah… I guess they'd clash with the hair now." She relented, still staring at herself.

"Is it denim?"

"What? No…" Rachel turned and saw him staring at a skirt she'd laid over her chair.

"Yeah. I thought they'd suit the boots –"

"Are you kidding me?" DJ cried. "Of course, not! You'll need something in dark brown! Or do you have anything in gold?"

"Huh?"

But DJ was already marching into her closet. "Those boots with that skirt is horrendous! Rachel, you should know better!"

Rachel couldn't help the laugh that escaped her, feeling better about the situation already. DJ could always pull her out of her slump. She turned over to look at Harry, but her mirth disappeared when he dropped her book, backing away in horror.

"Harry?"

He was breathing hard, hands clenched, glaring at the offending book. Rachel felt her dread rise. He'd seen the sketch of Luke. Shit, shit!

"You draw a lot, Rach." Harry managed to say, trying to smile, but it looked so painful that Rachel only winced.

"I'm sorry. I just… it's been a rough couple of days for me… This is how I vent, sort of." She took off the chain, feeling her hair fall heavily over her shoulders.

Harry nodded, walking towards the closet.

"Don't take too long, DJ!"

"Don't worry!" DJ called out. "She just needs a light top with a brown skirt, it's better accented with a blazer, I suppose. But this one is bedazzled, so I think we should go for a collared look –"

"Crikey, we don't have all day." Harry sighed.

Rachel picked up her book and flipped across the various drawings of herself, her aunts, parents, Bolt, random people she'd come across or dreamt of… finally reaching the page from which a young Luke Castellan looked up at her, grinning broadly, a front tooth missing, eyes sparkling amidst the grey strokes.

"I read the article." Rachel whispered. Harry's grip on the closet door tightened.

"Romilda Vane is a destructive little wench." Harry muttered.

"I thought it was Skeeter's writing? That beetle woman."

"No, it was. Vane told her everything she knew."

"So, they really did know about the murders?" Rachel asked, voice so low Harry had to tilt his head towards her to understand.

He looked at her, eyes cold. For a moment, Rachel could actually imagine him committing those murders. She thought about last night when he'd called her to spill everything he knew about it. It still made her head spin to find out how much of Harry she'd never known, that people still don't know.

"No." He whispered. "Nobody knows about that. Skeeter's focused on Crouch and Lestrange. And I have alibis for those two, so it's fine."

"Alibis." Rachel repeated, unimpressed.

"I mean, I didn't kill them." He said, nostrils flaring at her.

They glared at each other till Bolt said, "Excuse me, _what?"_

Shit! Rachel swivelled around, completely having forgotten her Familiar was in the same room, very involved in the conversation now. Bolt had been fairly out of it when they'd discussed it at night, but she was wide awake and wide aware now.

"What d'you mean 'murders'?" Bolt's voice was high, her puppy form shaking as though she wanted to turn into a tiger and run away.

Harry gaped at her. "Bolt, that's not –"

"Found it!" DJ announced, triumphantly exiting the closet and holding up a pastel embroidered shirt with half sleeves, and black denim cut-off shorts.

Rachel tried not to stammer, thankful for the interruption. "I… I thought you said no denim with tan?"

"Not a skirt." DJ said, as though Rachel were slow.

"Harry." Bolt called, half growling at him.

 _I'll explain later_ , Rachel screamed in her head. Bolt held back another growl and Harry cleared his throat.

"Alright, suit up. We need your help setting up some stuff."

"Really?"

"No, but I'd like to introduce you to a few people so they'll know whom to keep an eye on."

Rachel gritted her teeth and grabbed the clothes from DJ, swinging the chain over her neck again, feeling the glamour settle around her again. Then she spotted something on the table and said, "Before I forget…"

She tossed Harry's new lipstick towards him. He gave a small flinch, but snatched it out of the air with a dextrous arm.

* * *

 _Friday, Nov 16, 12:00 p.m.  
Jacksons' Apartment, Upper East, Manhattan _

" _Annabeth has the list, so you can go over it when you get there. Everyone's gonna leave at one. We're having an early lunch. You sure you're not coming over_ – "

"I'm sure, Nico." Percy muttered, leaning against his door which was ajar by an inch. He was looking into the hallway in his house, listening in on Sally and Sirius' conversation. He was also talking to Nico on the phone. His cousin was at camp, coaching the others on how to floo travel to Frost. Percy was at their apartment in the city, waiting for Sally and Sirius to leave on their day out.

The adults knew something was happening, but they'd chosen to look away. Percy wondered what their wild guesses were. He was sure none of those extended to a demigod-wizard party.

Sirius was talking about the glorious law suit with which he was about to slap Rita Skeeter. Sally was uncharacteristically quiet, nodding and humming at the right points. Percy watched them, responding to Nico at the same time.

"They're about to leave, now. When you get to Frost, make sure to check with Harry about the ice box. Connor said he could sustain a cooling charm over their kit."

" _Alright. Hey, did you hear from Bi?_ "

"No. The Hunters like making an entrance, don't worry about them. Just focus on this, Nico. It's important. I'll see you in a bit."

He cut the call and walked into the hall where Sirius was helping Sally into a coat. The winter wind was in the city.

"Seeing us off, Perce?" Sirius asked, trying to grin. Percy could tell he was stressed out of his mind with everything that was going on. Clearly, leaving the premises to a bunch of kids was not on his I-like-this-plan-whatever-it-is list.

"Yeah! Where are you heading?" Percy smiled as genially as possible.

"There's a public ice rink somewhere a few blocks ahead." Sally said, turning away. She looked a little pale. Percy frowned. Something was bothering her.

"Yeah… and after that we're…" Sirius trailed off, looking at Sally for a cue.

"Drinks." She said. Percy gaped.

"W…what?"

She immediately placated him with, "Mocktails, sweetie. I just haven't had those in a while."

Percy tried to still his fast beating heart. She knew he didn't like liquor, not even the mention of them. His mom never drank.

"Drinks?" Sirius said, looking faint.

"Yeah… A mojito, I hope." Sally nodded.

There was something in their scrutiny that made Percy feel left out. He narrowed his eyes, gaze switching between them.

Sirius's shoulders slumped, in relief. "Alright then! Let's go drink! And skate! Bye Percy!"

"Bye sweetie." Sally kissed him on the cheek and waved. The pair left and Percy shut the door, locking it from the inside.

"That's weird." He muttered to himself.

"That's going to be nothing compared to the night ahead of us." Tom said, seated on the couch.

Percy stood up straight and frowned at him. "You can't interfere."

"Oh, can't I?" Tom raised an eyebrow, judging him.

Percy advanced till he was standing over him. "You can't. We agreed, you're not going to hurt anyone."

"No. We agreed that I won't kill anyone."

The tension grew. Percy felt his entire neck go stiff as he clenched his jaw. He reached up and grabbed the locket with his bare hand. It was hot to touch, like it always was nowadays. And with Tom glaring at him, it grew hotter.

Percy leaned down till their faces were at eye-level. He said it in a hiss. "If you even think of ruining today, _I will destroy you_."

Tom's eyes widened. He went speechless too, not having expected Percy to react as he did.

The demigod kept his closed palm around the locket, even through the burn. It stung his skin, marking it an angry red, but he didn't let go. He didn't look away from Tom's deep red eyes that shone in the light from the window.

Then Tom smiled, ire falling immediately. The locket cooled and Percy blinked.

"Relax, Percy. I was kidding. Can't you take a joke?"

"Not from you."

Tom rolled his eyes. "You're supposed to relax. It's a party!"

"It's not a party, it's the beginning of a long term commitment. Nothing can go wrong. Everyone's volatile and can destroy the house on their own and we have to make sure that they don't, and that they have fun, but not too much fun because this is not a party. It's a war strategy."

"… I guess we found the buzz-kill."

* * *

 _Friday, Nov 16, 5:00 p.m.  
Frost Mansion, Gretna Green, Scotland _

Harry looked around the decorated surroundings of the house. There were streamers and balloons floating near the ceiling, a night vibe attached to the centre. The chandelier beside the stairs was set to glow in blue, there was glitter over the floor. The furniture was pushed towards the walls of the hall and tables had been conjured up. They stretched alongside the north wall, already all half teeming with biscuits, crackers, juice, the lot.

The large French windows towards the grounds were open all the way letting in the slow and dim sunlight which mixed with the blue and silver of the house. It created a cosy and cool effect.

Adjacent to the tables was a raised platform were a smaller table had been conjured. Drew Tanaka and Lee Jordan were setting up their separate music systems. Harry had to walk away from them because the pair had started to trash talk each other which made everyone who heard them, blush horribly.

"Whoa!" Rachel gasped, looking at the colour striations the light made on the walls. Harry looked up and smiled. It was breath taking.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Hermione said, giddily. She approached them from the kitchen, carrying a platter of peppermint humbugs. Harry made a face at the plate as Hermione looked at Rachel.

"Hello, I'm Hermione Granger."

"I'm… Elizabeth." Rachel said, belatedly, touching her straightened hair. Harry looked at her.

"She knows."

"Oh, she does?"

Hermione raised her chin. "I know what?"

Rachel steeled herself and said, "I'm Rachel Elizabeth Dare."

Hermione's jaw dropped. "Morgana! You're Harry's –"

"Distant friend!" Harry intervened. "Disguises are supposed to be secret, Hermione."

"Right, right, of course! Oh god! I can't believe it. You're actually alive!"

"Indoor voice, please…" Harry muttered, turning around. There were not many people yet. About ten kids roamed the house at the moment. DJ was descending the stairs and Harry called out, "DJ, all the rooms locked?"

"Yup. Because seriously, if someone gets into my room, I'm going to have to replace everything." DJ grumbled. "Hi, 'Mione."

Hermione was still gazing at Rachel. "Hi."

DJ turned towards Harry. "Percy called. He said they can't get the ice."

"We can make ice. No problems."

"That's what I said… actually…" DJ gestured his head away from the girls. Harry followed him, already dreading the horrors that could escalate with the plans they had for a peaceful, but fun party.

"Cedric's at the castle." DJ whispered.

"What?!"

"I know. He was meeting up with Cho. I think the Order knows what we're up to, because she said he was trying to drop hints and stuff."

"Urgh! Damn it… is he still there?"

"Yeah, I think. He has a friend over too. The Slytherin…"

"Zach." Harry sighed. "Alright, I'll go over and sort things out. You can take over till Percy comes back."

"Why's he taking so long? Sirius and Sally should have left already." DJ complained. Then he looked at Harry with a frown. "Hey, where's your coat?"

Harry froze. Earlier that day, DJ had laid out an outfit for him to wear. Harry had never seen those clothes before, which meant that DJ had actually bought them for him. It was been a green plaid button up with black jeans trousers. Accompanying that set was a black blazer-coat which looked like it could cost the same as a Firebolt. Harry had to talk to DJ about his spending.

"Must have left it at the dorms." He said, trying to play it off, but DJ groaned. "Harry! Come on, it's part of a set! You're the host, you need to look spiffy!"

"I am spiffy!" Harry gestured to the button down and jeans. "I like this as it is. Yes, the green is good and the pants could be a little breathable –"

"It's supposed to be tight. You have great legs."

"Don't ever talk about my legs. No coat, DJ."

"Fine." DJ stomped away. He himself looked great in his burgundy designer sweatshirt, and pale grey trousers. DJ had planned various outfits with distinct colouring for Harry, Percy, Nico and himself. He'd claimed that as the four heading the entire thing, they needed to look the part. But Harry knew it was a chance for DJ to shop and play dress up.

Still, it was a good look for Harry, privately speaking. DJ knew what looked best on everyone. He was also careful with giving Rachel a differently styled choice so that nobody would make any connection between her and the Potters. Harry's hair was wayward and DJ's was nearly the same. Rachel's was very neat and very straight. Their faces too very shaped differently, thanks to the glamour on her chain.

Her pastel and blue denim outfit also set her apart from her brother and cousin, so anyone looking at her wouldn't figure it out.

"I'm going back to the castle. Hermione, are you listening?"

"Huh? Yes! What did you say?" Hermione stood straight, still holding the plate of humbugs. Rachel had been looking uncomfortable at the number of questions she'd been asked within a span of 40 seconds.

"I have to sort out something at Hogwarts." Harry repeated. "I'll be back in half hour. Take the list and make sure DJ gets it as soon as everyone's here."

He handed over the list of witches and wizards due to attend the party. There were a set number of people authorised to use the floo and Harry knew that Hermione can take over this with ease.

She looked over the slip of paper and shoved it into her pocket. "Is there a problem?"

"No… at least, there better not be. Cho'll be with me, it's fine."

He left the house, flooing straight into Hogwarts. With Snape having cancelled the block hours on Friday, they'd found out that he wasn't even in the castle. The students were using his office hearth to travel.

Harry grinned, imagining the look on his face if the Potions Master ever found out. That might be worth the detention.

He had worn his Hogwarts robes over his new clothes. There was no point in showing off when he didn't want attention. Within minutes, he was standing outside the Room of Requirement.

Cho and a few others where in there and so was Cedric and his friend Zach Belstone. Harry did a double take. They were in their Auror uniforms.

"This is gonna be fun." Zach muttered, turning to find Harry looking at them.

"Hello to you too."

"Harry!" Cedric interrupted, frowning. "What's going on?"

Harry gave Cho a look. She was frowning, clearly not pleased with her boyfriend's tone. Harry knew she wouldn't give anything away, but when it came to Cedric, Cho didn't like keeping secrets.

"Can I talk to you two?"

"You are talking to us."

"Over by the wall."

Zach followed him and Cedric waited for a beat before doing the same.

It was unclear as to how they knew something was happening. But as Harry explained the importance of the party without using the word 'party', he noticed that the two men looked less than stellar about the whole exercise.

"What's wrong?"

Zach folded his arms and looked over to Cedric. "This was your plan. Go ahead."

Cedric glared at him but then sighed and whispered, "I don't know if Sirius told you this, but Lestrange is alive."

Harry's heart stuttered for a moment. "…what?"

"Bellatrix Lestrange. She's not dead."

"But the paper… why would they lie?"

"Because whoever broke her out is still at large and they're bad news." Cedric continued. "Forget any theory that says the vigilante is helping us. They are not. Do you know anything about this?"

"Why would I know anything? Is it because of that stupid article?!"

"It's more than that." Cedric sighed. Zach looked at his watch but said, "It's more about how people are making connections of strange healing abilities and magical ward trespassing properties."

"I can't walk through wards." Harry said.

"We know. We're asking if you knew anyone who could."

If there was a worse time to be interrogated by a friend, Harry couldn't think of it. They needed to get things ready by six in the evening, which was when the rest of the demigods would be arriving.

"I don't know anyone who can. I mean, not without literally tearing down the whole thing –"

"Exactly! Harry, we know about the demigods. We know about Percy and Nico."

Harry clenched his fists. Damn it! He'd forgotten that with the induction into the Order, new recruits would also be informed about that.

"Demigods cannot walk through wards."

"You're sure."

"Yes!" Harry snapped. "And they have their own wards and shields which work just as ours do. Why are you asking this?"

"Because whoever broke into Azkaban used non-human magic." Zach said. "They scanned the island, found some weak points in the ward. There were runes missing in the rock foundations of the prison. It must have been erased years ago, but someone found that out and used it to their advantage. We also found traces of unfamiliar magic trails."

"Non-human doesn't mean unfamiliar." Harry pointed out.

"No. It means it's out of our jurisdiction." Cedric sighed. "If the Ministry calls in the International Confederation of Wizards to start their own investigation, it could lead them to find out about your friends across the pond."

Harry felt a migraine coming on.

"Isn't Dumbledore the Supreme Mugwump of the Great Britain division?" Harry hissed. "He can stall this!"

"He's one man in a company of at least a hundred warlocks of similar calibre." Zach sighed. "He can't pardon someone without extensive evidence."

"There's no one to pardon. No demigod did this!"

"If you're sure…"

"I am."

Zach turned to Cedric. "Then there's no problem, is there?"

Cedric still had that frown on his face which made Harry force his hands to stay at his side. He had an insane urge to smoothen out his forehead.

"For now, Harry just… promise me you'll be careful about this. Whatever you're up to right now, be careful."

"I will." Harry prayed fervently he wasn't blushing. "Don't worry. We've got it under control, haven't we Cho?"

"Yes, we have. Don't worry, Ced. It'll be fine." She approached them, standing beside Harry. Her presence diffused the tension between them and the struggle in Harry's head. He was sure she wouldn't appreciate what he thought of _Ced_.

Zach grinned. "Cool! We best be off. See ya both!"

He waved the off. Cedric leaned in to kiss Cho and Harry did a 180 and walked towards the other side of the room where Fred and George were busy with a catalogue of the remaining boxes of food.

"Problem?" George asked, eyeing Cedric who was following Zach out the door.

Harry exhaled. "It's for another day. Now, we have to focus on the party. Is this ready for transport?"

"Yup. How's the lookout status?"

"Dennis and Nigel will be in the office till midnight. They'll switch over then when Dae Iseul and Astoria arrives."

"And they're fine with staying alone, right?"

"I've given them the mirror. Nick and the Fat Friar have agreed to keep them company. DJ and I will pop in every hour to check on them. Snape's not due till Monday, so we're safe."

Fred closed one of the boxes containing butterbeer. "Still think we should have recruited the house elves."

"Too risky. They're sworn to keep students marginally safe. They can't lie to teachers."

"If at least one of them was loyal to us –"

"But they're not! So, come on! Let's round these up and go."

Harry helped them with the boxes. "And you'll have to make some ice. The campers can't bring any."

"No probs."

* * *

 _Friday, Nov 16, 6:00 p.m.  
Frost Mansion, Gretna Green, Scotland _

Sixty one teens stood in the deadly silence of Frost. Percy's heart was hammering. They were closeted in two clear groups except for Rachel who'd pushed herself beside the curtains of the open French windows. The sun had nearly set, casting deep reddish light to cascade into the blue and purple lights of the house.

Percy cleared his throat. Everyone turned to look at him. He nearly dropped from the stress. It was a bad time for stage fright.

Trying to focus on something to calm himself he fiddled with the sleeve of his fancy black hoodie, an unwanted and reluctantly accepted gift from DJ.

"I guess we put this up in a hurry." Percy said, wishing his voice hadn't just passed puberty. "But this is actually really uplifting!"

People fidgeted, still waiting for some inspiring sentiment. Percy turned to his left to watch Harry blink at him.

"Alright. I'll let you in on a little secret." Percy sighed. "I think you all know that I've been stressed, I've been a bit short with a lot of you. I'm really sorry about that, but seriously, seeing all you here definitely hits it home. This is amazing. You guys are amazing! We literally had two days to plan this to perfection and I'm not blaming anyone – Harry – but it's brilliant!"

A few laughed at the side voice and Harry rolled his eyes.

"Not my fault!" He cried. Percy chuckled, shooting them all the biggest smile he could. "This is the truth, I'm so proud of all of you! Everyone worked their feet off, you had your plans and your goals and deadlines and you got us here! I know the students had their classes, many of you are in your fifth and seventh years, that can't have been easy! And a lot of campers too had to juggle a lot of activities at once. You did some serious multitasking and here's your reward! One night off, complete with the latest music, courtesy of our very own Drew and Lee!"

Many of them whooped and clapped as the mentioned DJs gave flamboyant bows.

Harry raised his voice. "This is more than a reward! You're in our home. DJ, Nico, Percy, and I are now your hosts. This night is for fun! You're about to have a grand time, so take it easy, relax and make sure you stay safe and awesome!"

People started laughing in agreement, looking at each other. The mood was growing light with fanatic energy.

"One point to remember, for everyone's safety, you can't venture out of the wards. Luna Lovegood's made the shield visible for us. You can see the lights in the distance." Percy pointed outdoors to where the hemispherical bubble was lit in a soft shade of blue, glinting under the lights from the house.

"You can of course floo back to camp or the castle, if you need to. Just inform us before you do so, we're keeping a count of the number of people in the house." Harry added.

"Bathrooms are available around the corner to the left, behind the hall. The kitchen is over there were we have extra food and drinks. There are two floors open to everyone. The ground floor where we currently are, and the Den in the basement, where we have a few games set up. It's time to discover something that you'll remember for a lifetime!"

"The grounds outside the house are also free to explore. You can go until the trees, which is where the ward begins. It's going to be a beautiful night. Make the most of it!"

Lee made a record break sound on the sound system they'd set up. Percy felt a jolt of energy in his bones as a quick beat started and echoed through the house.

Drew took up the metaphorical mike. "I hope you're ready for tonight. You're going to have a lot of fun, so let down your hair and get in sight! The party's going till dawn!"

The crowd exploded into screams. Percy whooped along with them, recognizing the delicate Charmspeak layered into her words. Lee changed the music and the entire house was blasted with Maroon 5 and Wiz Khalifa's _Payphone._

His eyes caught Annabeth's through the crowd and her grin made something in his chest melt. She was wearing a regular white t-shirt with an architecture pun. He stared at her legs, wondering how she'd gotten her hands on denim hot shorts, with self-made tears. It matched his pale blue jeans, except they came with ready-made tears. DJ had been insistent on Percy wearing something casual and branded for the night. Well, at least he hadn't gotten a shirt like Harry.

As the two groups started to mix, Percy made his way to Annabeth.

"Good one." She said, taking his hand and squeezing it. Percy felt like he was soaring. All the heaviness that had festered for months disappeared and in an unexpected move, he touched her cheek, leaning in. She came closer and then, they were kissing in a room full of people.

If anything, it made the screaming louder.

* * *

Harry wanted to roll his eyes at the spectacle. He held from doing so, because as gross as it was to watch two people kiss, there was something sweet in watching Percy and Annabeth do it.

Not to mention, there were at least ten people looking at Harry as though he were about to throw a tantrum. Hopefully, this would dispel any more rumours about him and Percy.

Hermione walked up to him. "Here you go."

She held out the list of witches and wizards. Harry read up on all the names again, committing them to memory. A bunch of them were instructed to walk around the house every interval to check on people. There were thirty five students from Hogwarts and just below thirty or so campers.

"What's the total number?" Harry asked, frowning at the crowd. At least half of them had wandered down to the Den and another ten left to walk around the grounds.

"Sixty one for now. The Hunters aren't here yet. Annabeth isn't sure when they'd reach."

"Anytime now would be swell." Harry said. Nico had been excited when his sister, Bianca and agreed to pop in. Being one of the youngest at a noisy party couldn't be fun. Annabeth's half-brother, Stanley, was here as well, so he and Nico were sticking together for the time being, since they got along well.

Harry looked around and found them, chatting with Dave and Bolin, DJ's dormmates. Colin Creevey had somehow been roped in by Connor Stoll to try mixing butterbeer and coke. Harry groaned. He'd hoped the craziness would take a while to develop. Evidently not.

Ron ran in from the grounds. He stopped right beside Harry and Hermione, panting a bit.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked, immediately on edge. He searched through people, expecting a brawl to break out.

"The lawn… it smells like peppermint." Ron gasped.

Hermione nodded. "Yes, Malcolm requested that specifically, because –"

"To keep the spiders away!" Ron cried. "It's amazing! There's a whole cabin of campers who know exactly how I feel! I've never resonated so well with anyone like Malcolm!"

Harry exhaled in relief. "Glad you're having fun, Ron."

"Why didn't we do this before?!"

"Time crunches, doubts…"

"Where's Malcolm?!"

Harry scanned the room. "He may be in the Den –"

Ron was tearing downstairs before Harry had finished speaking.

Hermione was staring after him, wide eyed. "I… should probably keep an eye on him. I'll see you in a bit, Harry."

"See you, 'Mione."

Harry walked around for twenty minutes, dropping into varied conversations and greeting everyone with familiar quips. He hadn't realised how many people he was on friendly terms with, until now. There were dozens with whom he could mention just a few words and could regain the familiarity of having known them before.

It felt invigorating. He enjoyed this. Harry walked through the rooms to stand at the entrance and look out into the grounds were a few were loitering and drifting to look at the view.

He spotted Rachel near the bushes, looking up at the ward. There was someone standing beside her. They were having a conversation it seemed. And if it had been anyone else other than Draco Malfoy, Harry might have walked away.

Harry marched onto the grass, feeling the sharp, cool wind smack him in the face. It's not like he had any reason to hate Malfoy now. No, all that was left were doubts and suspicions.

Rachel was laughing at whatever Malfoy had told her. They were leaning against the ward like it was a wall, observing the glow patterns of their weights.

"Hi!" Harry said, trying not to glare at Malfoy. The blonde looked over to him, shooting an easy smile at him.

"Hi, Harry! This is Drake-O?"

"Draco Malfoy." Malfoy said, smiling at Rachel, not offended in the least. "Hello, Potter. I take it you know each other."

"Nope." Harry and Rachel responded at once.

"Oh. You referred to him by name."

"Everyone knows my name." Harry huffed.

"Right. Well, Elizabeth here was just telling me about her necklace."

Rachel blushed under Harry's glare. "Oh, was she?"

"He was just curious." She defended.

"Very." Malfoy agreed. "It suits you quite well."

"Thanks, Drake-O." Rachel grinned at him and Harry sighed.

"Right well. As you both know, I'm Harry Potter. I'm co-hosting this party. Any problems, you can approach me at any time. Because I will take care of _any problem_."

Malfoy and Rachel rolled their eyes as if Harry's behaviour was old.

"Got it, Harry."

"Good." Harry folded his arms and glared at Malfoy, who stood up straight and tilted his head.

"Come on, Potter. I thought we were getting along."

"We are. Actually, I appreciate your plans on baseline charms to avoid sensory overloads for susceptible guests."

Malfoy raised an eyebrow, clearly not expecting a compliment. "Thanks. But I can't take all the credit, Goldstein helped."

"You can avoid sensory overload?" Rachel gasped. "That's amazing! Was it a spell or like a potion?"

"It's a layered charm, cast several times throughout the house." Malfoy explained, this time smiling more pleasantly. "NEWT level, but easily researched and practiced."

Harry relaxed against his will. It's like he wanted to stay mad at Malfoy. But then again, there was a reason why he'd been invited. Malfoy had been trustable, especially through Daphne Greengrass's friendship.

"Well, I hope you two enjoy the day. I'll be in if you need me. Anthony may have to check on the spells to see if they hold with prolonged noise." Harry said, turning away.

"It's made to withstand three hours at minimum." Malfoy replied. "In fact, I can make the rounds right now to check the stability."

He turned to Rachel, nodding at her like a Victorian gentleman. "I'll see you around."

Rachel laughed. "You're weird."

Malfoy shook his head, walking away. Harry stared in surprise. That was unexpected.

Rachel shoved at his shoulder. "Thanks for that!"

"Sorry, I just… well, I didn't like him before."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Wait. You hate him or you like him?"

"I don't… like him? What?"

"I thought you were jealous."

"Of… who? You?"

"Dude!" Rachel popped a hip. "You said you're bi. I thought you were crushing on Drake-O."

Harry blanched. "What?! In what universe would that make sense?!"

"This one. I mean, you stomped over here like some Neanderthal whose territory was trespassed."

Rachel giggled when Harry spluttered. "No! Not Malfoy! Urgh! There are a hundred other guys that I'd rate over him!"

"Ooh, really? Names! Now!"

Harry's nostrils flared. "Did you set me up?"

"Nope. It was a happy accident."

"Thanks, Rach."

Rachel shrugged. "It's fun… so, I guess everyone's pitched in to help with the party, huh?"

She started to walk back to the house. Harry stuck his thumbs into his front pockets, walking slowly along with her.

"Mostly. Yeah, a lot of jobs were divided and subdivided. I'm surprised we actually got this done today."

Rachel shot him a look. "Didn't you order them to have this today?"

"Yes… I had other stuff in my mind." Harry sighed. "I guess it might not have been ideal for some."

"Probably. But they're having fun now. Besides, the more you'd postponed it, the more problems would crop up. I mean, both sides have a lot of pressure, right?"

"Yeah."

"See? It's not so bad. The only loose canon here is probably me."

She said it so casually that Harry took an extra second to react. "What?"

Rachel pressed her lips together. "I'd just asked myself why I'm here. Before Drake-O came over, I was thinking…"

Harry stared. After all that drama…

"Rach – "

"I spoke to a couple of demigods just now. I sort of told them I'm a witch. Then I told Drake-O I was a demigod. I mean, I'm lying to them. They don't know me. I can't tell them, because it's too dangerous –"

"Rachel, you knew that –"

"I'm not blaming you." She reassured him. "I'm just saying, this is not how I want to get to know you guys. And you're all great! I liked the people I talked to. They're sweet, and funny, and slight jerks, but with that drive that's just amazing to know."

She stared at the house, it's soft lights, the thumping music that made their chests vibrate with the air pressure.

"When Hermione was talking to me, she was so excited." Rachel whispered. "She was just happy to see me. I thought she'd be all off and distant, but she's not. And for a moment, I was glad that I got to talk to your best friend. It got me thinking, if I were witch, and I'd gone to Hogwarts, I'd know Hermione."

Rachel looked at Harry, eyes large from not blinking. "I'd be roommates with her and with Lavender and Parvati. That sounds like the most awesome thing ever! I'd have been best friends with them!"

Harry didn't know what to say. He remembered when she'd gone off on him, yelling about how she'd wished to be a witch.

"It feels like a sham to get to know them behind a disguise." Rachel said. "I wish I could go in there and tell them who I am."

Harry winced. "That's not ideal. I'm sorry."

She sighed. "It's not your fault. I didn't think this through. May be… I should probably leave, I don't want to upset anyone –"

"Oh, sweetie!" A musical voice called from behind them. Rachel and Harry spun around, jaws dropping as they set their eyes on the person behind them. "That's absolutely tragic! I love it!"

Aphrodite was standing there, in a long flowing golden gown, studded with tiny diamonds. She shone in the party lights, the wind whipping her hair in a majestic fashion. Her make-up was on point, eye liner sharped to make her eyes glow.

Harry lost his voice. Rachel croaked, "You're beautiful!"

"Thank you, dear. You're very kind. I am beautiful. I'd like a few more adjectives, though."

"Um…" Rachel stammered. "Brilliant! Wonderful! Inspiring! Talented! Smart!"

"Smart?"

"If you want!"

Aphrodite smiled. "I like that. Smart. Yes, I am very smart. I like you, Elizabeth."

"Uh…"

"Harry, it's been a while, hasn't it?"

Harry's could only gape at her. He'd seen her before, and he'd been pretty stunned then, but this was even more shocking. She was too beautiful to have a conversation with. Harry was too busy gazing at her.

"Sweet boy." She patted his head, fingers running through his hair. He nearly collapsed.

"My dear, girl." Aphrodite turned them around and looped her hand through theirs, walking them towards the house. "I feel so sad that you believe you don't belong!"

"Er… no, please don't be sad!"

"It sounds very tragic, I know. You're not off this world of magic and gods, and yet you want to fit in. It would make a lovely story!"

"Would it?"

"Oh, absolutely!" The goddess agreed. "Do you know what you need, Elizabeth?"

"I don't know, please tell me."

Harry had no idea how Rachel was able to talk to her. He still hadn't found his voice. The goddess's hair was dark brown, with shades of red, curled elegantly. It smelled great.

"You need an adventure."

Rachel stared. "An… adventure?"

"Yes, that would be fun!" Aphrodite giggled. "An adventure to showcase your smarts and bravery. That's how you find your place in the world, dearie."

"An adventure." Rachel repeated, faint.

"Absolutely. Go on. Find an adventure in the party."

Aphrodite let Rachel go and Harry watched her stumble into the house, weaving her way through the crowd, eyes wide, searching for… adventure.

"And you, my boy?" The goddess turned to Harry. He was sure she was holding him up. His legs weren't working.

"Find some strength, Harry. In the face of love, you may have to take the first step." She chastised him.

As she said the words, Harry felt his ankles free up. He stood straight, feeling pins and needles all over his legs.

"Er…What step?"

"You'll have to introduce yourself." Aphrodite informed him. "Nothing will happen if you just look at people, Harry. You have to walk up to someone and talk to them, listen to them."

"I'm not… a talker."

Aphrodite's eyes glittered. "Not even for someone with whom you might fall in love?"

"I… I'm fifteen."

"My best pair are fifteen. See how they match?" Aphrodite looked into the crowd and Harry saw her staring at Percy and Annabeth who were holding hands and singing along to the lyrics quite badly.

"Yeah, well… they're Percy and Annabeth. I'm … me."

"You are you." She agreed. "Have you had an adventure?"

"Yes! A lot, actually. I'd like to settle down."

Aphrodite gave him sad smile. "But where's the fun in that?"

"It would be original, though."

"Nothing's original now. It's 2012, Harry. History is now. But you know that, what with being stuck in the past."

He stared at her. She patted his head again.

"It'll be alright. I'll give you a choice. You can have one wonderful night. Tonight, I mean. You can walk into this party, meet someone and have the best time of your life. Or… you can choose to have a love to remember a lifetime."

Her voice was soft, but her words were like thunder striking in her ears with a roar. Harry flinched.

"Will it hurt?"

Aphrodite removed her hand from his. He mourned the loss of contact.

"Choose with your heart, Harry. It may not be the wisest decision. But it will be the most beautiful one."

She touched his cheek like a proud mother. Then she turned around and walked into the house, disappearing into the crowd. Her dress made it seem like she was gliding. People stopped dancing and talking to stare at her.

Harry stood on the lawn, star struck by her words. He could meet someone right now and have the time of his life… or he could… what? Remember a love his entire life? Did that make sense? Not to him.

He shook his head, entering the house. The music rose in volume and he ran a hand through his hair, still feeling Aphrodite's fingers on his face.

Someone came over his shoulder. "Hey, Harry."

He knew that voice. Harry thought about Aphrodite's words as he turned and stared at Thalia Grace in all her Huntress glory.

* * *

 **Sort of like a cliffhanger… he he. Stay tuned, folks. Second part to the party will come up, but I have a busy week ahead, fingers crossed.**

 **Q: Which demigod has the most powerful Charmspeak ability, according to canon?**

 **Cabba.**


	43. A Tragedy Waiting to Happen

**July 5, EDIT: As kindly pointed out by anon, there is dialogue concern abortion in this chapter. I apologize for not having added this fact to the warning when I first uploaded this chapter. It was a mistake on my part.  
The guest reviewer was patient in explaining a personal trauma regarding the topic. I want the readers to know that I will, in no way, make fun of this topic. The pro-choice/pro-life debate is a serious one and as easy as it would have been to never have introduced it into this story, I still wanted to write about it. **

**At the same time, this is not an invitation for people to start arguing about the concept here. If you would like to talk about it, please PM me. If you do not have an account, leave a review and I will answer it in the next update.**

 **Thank you, Guest, for writing that message. It must not have been easy, I hope this will help.**

 **I will mention this in the warning tag, if I bring up the topic again. For those who would like to skip the section altogether, scroll down till you find '1234567890'.**

…

 **A: So far as I have read, it's Piper McLean who has the best Charmspeak ability. It's pretty powerful to put a half formed Primordial Goddess to sleep.**

 **Sherlock Harry Winchester: Thanks so much! Your words mean a lot! Yes, you got the answer right, our very own Beauty Queen is the bomb!**

 **Note: I'm pretty excited about this chapter and the next. Rachel sort of finds her adventure and Harry finds his choices.**

 **Warning: Conversation about abortion, Underage drinking, Underage bets** **(Please PM/review if you feel something in the story may be offensive. I am open to feedback.**

 **Listening to – All I Want by Kodaline**

* * *

 _Friday, Nov 16, 1:00 p.m.  
Jacksons' Apartment, Upper East Manhattan _

"This is good." Sirius said in surprise, taking another large bite out of his hot dog. Sally grinned, cheeks bulging with her own bite.

The pair walked by a lake near Central Park, having had a short lunch. Sirius thought she looked a little tired, but considering her increasing workload, (not to mention what their boys were up to) it made sense to be weary.

"Not too spicy?" She asked.

"Nope. It's just right. How's yours?"

"Great." She immediately took another bite as if she didn't want to keep talking. Sirius chewed slowly.

"You're worried about them." Sally observed. She stopped walking and Sirius turned back to watch her lower her piece.

"Aren't you?" He asked, trying to discern the exact emotion in her eyes.

"Always."

Sirius sighed, looking around for a bench. He spotted one behind her and gestured Sally towards it. Even though the sun was rather high in the sky, the clouds protected them from the glare and the soft wind told them that winter was close.

They sat down and waited a few seconds before speaking.

"They have to be independent." Sally said, staring at her mustard smudged fingers. "Percy and Nico… and the others… the demigods have to do this by themselves because we can't fight their fights for them."

"Because they're fighting for the gods." Sirius muttered.

Sally frowned. "Not so loud."

She looked up as though an Ancient Greek god would materialise and strike them down. Sirius winced.

"Sorry. I didn't mean –"

"It doesn't mean you're wrong." She agreed.

Sirius looked ahead, trying to swallow past the lump in his throat.

"It's just… it's so dangerous! It's such a dangerous time now. And there's no use telling that to them, because no one knows that better than the children. Even Nico knows and he's only eleven. And I'm sure there are kids younger than him, learning how to shoot arrows and use swords, and work on battle plans, and wear metal armour, and –"

"Sally."

She gave a sob. Sirius nearly dropped his food. He hadn't even seen any warning signs of her crying.

"And then all those Order meetings just goes to show that the same thing'll happen to all the kids in the castle and all the other magic schools! I can't even… it's horrible! It's so dirty and disgusting and everyone just accepts it!"

She squeezed her eyes shut shook her head and opened them again, no sign of watery eyes. Sirius observed her carefully. She took deep breaths.

"It's horrible timing." Sally said, staring into the middle distance.

"Any war would be horrible timing."

It must have been the wrong thing to say, because there was a flash of anger in her face. Sally clenched her jaw, looked right at him and spat out, "I'm pregnant."

Sirius actually did drop his hot dog.

He stared, stunned into silence as Sally gave a sardonic laugh. "I didn't want to tell Percy… he's under so much pressure as it is… I'm sorry I lied, but… I don't know what to do… I'm four weeks along."

Sirius couldn't look away from her, couldn't speak.

"I'm guessing Wizarding protection isn't a 100% accurate either. Then again, may be we just have stuck to condoms. I mean, I never skipped the pill. So… I dunno… Sirius say something, you're freaking me out."

He opened his mouth and let out a croak.

Sally sighed. "Are you mad at me? I just found out, you know. We have options. Four weeks is fine. I know a place close by, we can abort –"

"WHAT?!"

She scowled. "Lower your voice, please!"

"You're pregnant!"

"Yes… do you need ice cream?"

"I… what?"

"To calm down." She specified.

Sirius couldn't think clearly. She was… he was… they… abortion?

"You want to abort the kid?" He whispered.

Sally frowned. "It's a bunch of cells now, I believe. It doesn't feel pain."

"Yeah, but… did you give this some thought?"

Sally leaned back. "Raise a kid in a war torn environment or wait for an actual safe time to do that? Yeah, sounds tough."

"Sally, it's not the same –"

"It could be!" She hissed. "You said the first war against Voldemort lasted decades!"

"Officially, eleven years. But I see your point."

Sirius fell against back rest too, staring at his mashed hotdog beside his foot. It felt surreal. There was an uneasy feeling swirling in the pit of his stomach. He wondered if it was the hotdog threatening to wash back up. On top of all their worries and problems, now the stakes felt exponentially larger. A little baby.

Not yet a baby, but could grow into one if they let it.

"Now I know how James felt." He mumbled.

Sally set her food down between them.

"Can I tell you something?"

"Sure." He replied, still partially zoned out.

She took his hand and he squeezed it.

"When I was… don't tell Percy… when I was pregnant with him… I hadn't known Poseidon was a god."

Sirius exhaled. "Yikes."

"Yeah. He told me after… I got so mad I yelled at him and he left… and I remember just crying in my room, wondering if it would be better to just go for an abortion."

It felt like a thunder bolt striking him out of his mind. He turned towards Sally, wide eyed.

"Percy… you would have…?"

She grimaced. "Don't tell him. I came so close… I didn't have a clue on what to do with a baby. I wasn't a baby person!"

He tried to imagine it. When he was seventeen, he'd been worried about joining the Aurors and establishing himself as far away from his family as possible. Sally had had a very different, but equally tedious challenge.

"Why didn't you?" He asked, making his voice as soft as possible.

She stared at the grass beneath their feet. "Too many protestors outside the clinic."

Sirius blanched. "Protestors?"

"Pro-lifers." Sally explained with no life in her voice. "I was too scared to go. I went there every day for at least a week. And every day I'd see the signs and boards and the hatred."

She sat up and rolled her eyes. "Of course, after I actually gave birth to him, I had to pay for all the medical costs, because the insurance was shit. And if I didn't have the money then, I'd have been on the road with my sister and a new-born in a towel."

She offered him half of her hotdog and Sirius refused. He had lost his appetite.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that."

Sally shrugged. "Luckily, I had cash. That's the only reason I survived. That and Percy was adorable."

Sirius realised that the look in her eyes was a mash of harsh regret, sorrow, and guilt. She stared down at her hotdog, and it hit him that this was probably a secret that she'd never shared with anyone. Maybe Kimberly, her sister, had known. It was terrible. He might never be able to truly understand what she'd gone through, but he recognized the sentiment, especially with a few late night drunk conversation with a sobbing pair, ergo James and Lily.

He tried to think back to what he'd said before. Had he tried to argue with them, defend their thoughts? Why had they chosen to keep the foetus? Nobody had known about the prophecy then. Dumbledore had revealed it much later…

Sirius looked down at Sally's fingers, entwined with his. Mustard was on his hand as well. He wondered what Moony would say about this.

What was he supposed to tell her?

Sirius took in a deep breath, shifted closer to Sally and whispered, "If you go for an abortion now… do you want me to come with you?"

Sally didn't look away from her lap, but she smiled.

…

 **1234567890**

* * *

 _Friday, Nov 16, 7:30 p.m.  
Frost Mansion, Gretna Green, Scotland _

Percy left an ecstatic Nico with Bianca. Only two hunters had flooed in from camp. The others were still unsure, so until then, the total number of campers, as it were, stood at twenty eight.

It wasn't too bad. They were still outnumbered by the students, but it didn't seem to cause a visible imbalance. Everyone was enjoying themselves. Percy walked around, trying to eavesdrop into conversations to check that they had no hint of threats, or danger topics. It seemed fine.

Drew and Lee could read the room and find what music felt the atmosphere. The food was plentiful. The demigods were impressed by magic, and the wizards loved hearing the real stories of the myths and the quests. The scene was almost ideal.

Except, Percy waited for something to happen. Any bad news to make it less idyllic and more real. Urgh, he remembered a time when he'd been optimistic about everything. It felt weird to think about that now.

Harry nearly crashed into him from the side. Percy grabbed his shirt and steadied him.

"Whoa! What's wrong? What happened? Why are you sweating? Did something explode? I didn't hear –"

"Cool it!" Harry exclaimed. He looked around, frantic.

"You need to cool it." Percy muttered. "What's wrong?"

"Um… where do I begin?! Did you see R – Elizabeth?"

Percy frowned. "Not since the mixed tape began… What happened? Oh gods, I knew she shouldn't have come –"

"It's not that!" Harry argued, and then stepped close to him to whisper, "Did you know that Aphrodite's here?!"

Percy stared. "Oh no. Is she mad?"

"No! She's happy!"

"Oh no!"

"Exactly. I think she's pairing everyone off!"

Percy swivelled around, trying to spot the Goddess of Love in the crowd. But no one stood out. Only teenagers dancing and singing awfully.

"She might be in the den." He said.

"Thalia's here too." Harry hissed.

"Yeah, she had Bianca…" Percy trailed off. "Why do you look like DJ offered another dress up?"

"Because Aphrodite is having a little too much fun!"

"…oh no."

"I ran away the moment Thalia said hi! I mean, I do not want to turn into a wolf! I don't know who's scarier. Artemis or Zeus!"

Percy winced. This wasn't good. This was one of the troubles he'd hoped to avoid. Everyone at camp had offered sacrifices to their immortal parents to placate them and ask for luck for the party, but it might not have been enough. That or Aphrodite was really in a good mood and decided to chill by scaring mortals.

"Look, I'll go to the den. You stay here and check with Silena." Harry said hurriedly, running to the basement. Percy groaned and turned to head back into the mass of excited teens, feeling separated from the giddy vibe.

He found Aphrodite within minutes. It hadn't been difficult. She was in the kitchen, surrounded by at least eight people who listened to her lecture in rapture.

"And then… she looked down upon him and declared, "You drool in your sleep!" And that was when I knew… they were meant to be!"

The crowd sighed and Percy raised an eyebrow.

"Percy!" The goddess squealed, she turned towards him and her form shifted to tanned skin, red cheeks, golden princess curls falling over her shoulders to match her shimmering gown. Her sharp silver eyes bored into him and Percy swallowed twice before walking towards her.

She gave him a hug and he wanted to stay like that forever.

NO! Bad Percy! Don't think like that!

Aphrodite giggled and booped him on the nose. "You are adobs, Percy Jackson!"

Percy forced a smile. "Not as much as you, Lady Aphrodite."

"You smooth son of Poseidon. Urgh, your cheekbones, they're going to be great! Give it another year, don't worry!"

He had no idea what she'd said. He just smiled.

"So… I guess you just popped in to say hello." Percy said, as casually as possible.

Aphrodite shrugged, raising an empty glass. Someone, Percy recognized him as Terry Boot, surged forwards to pour Butterbeer into her glass.

"Well, poor little D was in the dumps. It's soooo stressful fighting a war, let me tell ya! So I told the dear, 'come on, sweetie! You like parties! I know one's that different and cute!' So we thought, what the Hades? And here we are!"

Percy stared. "We? That's… um, who's here with you?"

The goddess swirled her glass as though she was drinking some high class liquor. Like champagne or stuff.

"Darling D, Percy."

"Mr. D." Miranda Gardiner whispered.

Oh no.

He was able to excuse himself without earning her wrath, which was a win. Percy ran towards the stairs, just as Castor and Pollux emerged, supporting their father, a very drunk Dionysus.

"Holy…!" Percy gasped. Mr. D looked terrible. His eyes were red and his breath was pungent with sweetness.

"Don't tell me!" Percy said in horror. He'd been very specific of the no alcohol rule he'd instilled with everyone in the party. The last thing a bunch of nuclear teens needed was liquor to blow themselves sky high. Mr. D couldn't be here!

"He's not drunk." Castor assured Percy.

"Then why does he look like that!"

"That's because he made –"

"A huge chaotic mess in the den." Harry rushed up the stairs to interrupt them. He panted. "Don't worry. It's nothing that can't be fixed."

"But his eyes –"

"He needs his shades!" Harry chirped. Percy narrowed his eyes. Something was going on.

"Right!" Pollux said, hurriedly pulling out sunglasses from his shirt pocket to put it on Mr. D. The god hummed, looking around.

"Eh, I've been in better shindigs."

Percy gritted his teeth. "This too boring?"

"Well, you organised it, Peter, so obviously."

"It's Percy. And since this doesn't match your elite standards –"

"I got it, Patrick. I'm leaving. Jeez!" Mr. D groaned. He let go of his sons and stood up, swaying like he was drunk. He gave a hiccup and started to glow.

Right there. At the entrance of the living room.

"Everyone close your eyes!" Pollux yelled and Percy covered his face with both arms. Even through that defence, he felt the heat from the god's transport energy. When the brightness died down, Percy blinked, looking around the room, praying that no one had been vaporised.

Harry sighed. "Everyone good?"

The people in the room stared, disoriented. There were no piles of ash, so Percy breathed out in relief.

"I thought it might take longer to get him to leave." Castor said. He looked at Percy. "But you did the trick!"

"Ha ha. Thanks."

"I think Aphrodite's the only one left, now." Harry frowned, looking back into the den. "Er… Perce, can you handle that?"

"Aphrodite's here?" Pollux asked, flabbergasted. "Like, here at this party?!"

"Did you check the den?"

"Yes… but I'll give it another look over."

Harry went back down the stairs and Percy sighed, walking back into kitchen. He found Thalia leaning against the wall, listening to the 'totes most romantic story evah!'

"Hey, Thalia. Did you see Annabeth?"

"Oh yeah. She's over with the bunch in the garden, talking about Math. I'll talk to her after this. This is brilliant!"

Percy grumbled under his breath and Aphrodite spun a ludicrous story about two absolutely fictional characters 'Percy' and 'Annabeth' (no relation to himself or his girlfriend).

"Any of the other hunters on route?"

She shook her head. "We've been traveling since yesterday morning. I know we'd RSVPd five spots, but Naomi and Natalie were just too tired, and Phoebe decided she'd rather sleep for eighteen hours… But Bianca wanted to meet up with Nico, so, here we are."

Percy nodded. "Thanks. Did you talk to anyone yet?"

"I'm gonna have to socialize here… yeah, I haven't thought this through." Thalia groaned.

Percy smiled, nudging her elbow. "No worries. The students are cool."

"We're calling them students?"

"It's easier that way. Come on, I know you'll like Alex and Marcus."

Percy led her towards the Head Girl and Boy. But Thalia was looking around the room for someone else, it seemed.

"Thalia… are you searching for Harry?"

She turned around, a small frown on her face. "Yeah, what about it?"

"Oh… nothing… I mean, Harry really doesn't want to talk to you now. I mean, not right now. May be later."

"Why?"

"No big deal… Aphrodite sort of scared him using you, I think."

Thalia blanched. "Shit! The hell?! No wonder he thought I was gonna axe him! Urgh! After all the effort we put into planning a hundred different things with the gods, it takes one sentence to scare everyone away!"

Percy frowned. "You've lost me, Thalia."

She threw her hands in the air. "It's that ridiculous… being!" She hissed, looking over at the kitchen. "You'd think she could stop with her little games when we're super busy about life threatening situations, but no! She has to appear right after I've killed a demon, to tell me that I'm going to have to either 'hold on' or 'let go'!"

She started to swear and Percy winced.

"Is this before you'd reached camp?"

Thalia huffed. "We ran into Telekhines in Atlantic City. There were nearly three dozen and we almost fell into the trap they'd built."

Percy felt all breath leave his lungs. Telekhines were sea demons. He and Annabeth had encountered them when they'd been scouring Hephaestus' forges under Mount Saint Helens.

"Atlantic City…that's too close to camp." Percy whispered.

"Too close." She agreed. "We decimated them, but… I'll tell you this tomorrow. Major council meeting in the evening. Pretty sure we're not supposed to talk shop right now."

He gave an absentminded nod, walking towards the small group sitting by the tables in the living room.

Annabeth, who'd made her way back in the house, looked up in delight. She gave Thalia a hug and immediately introduced her to the Ravenclaws.

Percy picked up a scone to munch on it slowly. He thought of the sea demons. They were the ones who'd forged Kronos' scythe. He remembered Luke's Backbiter, a cursed metal, a fusion of Celestial Bronze and tempered steel, able to kill mortals and muggles as well as demigods. It had other powers as well and Percy gripped the side of the table, turning his face away from the happy people.

Tom came into view.

"Not good news, is it?"

Percy didn't answer him.

Tom didn't look irritated at all. He observed the festivities with a bored glance. His presence made him think about the act Tom was putting up.

"You figured it out." Percy whispered. The locket's spirit smiled.

Percy's heart was thudding. This felt like bad news even though he should be happy. If Tom had come up with a plan to break into Gringotts to steal another of his treasures… they'd be closer to achieving their goal.

But Percy couldn't trust him. He had to take this with a bag of salt.

"Grain." Tom muttered.

Percy glared at him. "With you, it's a bag."

* * *

Rachel stood in the Den, waiting for something that looked exciting enough for her to… have an adventure with.

There was a deeply unsettling feeling in her bones. The goddess had given her a task, a quest. Go find an adventure. Here was Rachel, in what was supposed to be the most exciting thing in her world… unable to find something specific.

The Den was more subdued with Pink Floyd playing in the background. It was different from upstairs where people were actively participating in stuff. Down here, had there not been that Sensory Overload Prevention spell, Rachel was sure that the smell of alcohol might choke her.

The camp's director, Dionysus had apparently created boxes of various drinks, intending on having a drinking competition with the students, but his sons had reminded him of the sobriety spell he was under. When the god had left, the campers and students pounced on the boxes.

Judging by the number of tumblers already spilled, Rachel figured she could beat them all in a fair competition.

Was that her adventure? Drink hard liquor? She could do that at home.

"This isn't a good idea." Bolt muttered.

Rachel huffed. "Yeah… well, I'm supposed to have fun… I'll just have a few shots and go home."

She walked over to the table where one of the participants in a chugging game collapsed.

Harry was standing by the side, wincing.

"This is not good. Not good at all."

Rachel pitied him. "Worried about explosions, huh?"

Harry looked up. "Explosions? Not from them, from Percy. If he knew that there were drinks here, he's gonna kill me!"

"We know!" A red headed teen chirped from the other end of the room. "That's why we're finishing them off!"

Everyone cheered as the winner of the current round, ("Daphne Greengrass," Bolt whispered) stood up and threw her arms above her head, inviting the crowd's approval. Her opponent, a guy who looked about their age, swayed and fell off his chair. Harry caught him by the shoulders.

"Okay, come on, guys! Percy can't find out about this! I need someone to micromanage this! Elizabeth?"

"Relax, Harry." Travis said. "I'll make sure no one goes over the limit."

"What's the limit?"

"Eh, two bottles."

Harry growled, grabbing the knocked out drunk and hauling him towards the stairs. "Fine! And make sure Percy doesn't see this!"

Rachel turned back to the table where a beautiful girl, who'd introduced herself as Silena, sat at the table.

"Anyone ready to go against the Rummy Queen?" Silena called out. The cheering died down a little.

"I'm game." Rachel shrugged.

Twenty pairs of eyes turned towards her.

"And you are…"

"I'm new. Call me Elizabeth. So, your comfort zone is rum?" Rachel asked, sitting opposite her. Silena looked like she could be a Senior in high school, the Queen Bee. She had that flawless kind of aura like Aphrodite and Rachel wondered if the goddess was her immortal parent.

"Rum and whiskey. What's yours?"

"Vodka."

"Nice!"

"Yeah, well, this has to fair, ladies!" The red headed teen said. Rachel looked up and blinked. Wait, there were two of them?

"Fred and George." Bolt whispered. "Remember? Ron's brothers?"

Right. Rachel thought she was seeing double even before the game.

Someone set a six pack between her and Silena. Rachel saw the cans of beer and grinned. The demigoddess smiled as well, reaching for a can and opening it.

"Bets!" George or Fred called and people started yelling out numbers. Rachel snatched up a can as well.

"Bottom's up." Rachel cheered.

Ten minutes later, Silena fell off her chair. Rachel shrieked in joy. Her head spun but she could still see the particles in the light beams, so she knew she was fine.

A hefty, muscled dude lifted Silena up like she was a doll. "Let's sit by the shelf, Silly."

Silena giggled and gave him a sloppy kiss on the cheek.

"Who's next!?" Rachel called out.

"You think you can handle another round, princess?" A stringy haired, buffed up girl sat down in Silena's chair. The crowd went 'Ooh!' and Rachel recognized her as Clarisse, one of camp's best warriors.

Rachel stretched her arms and cracked her knuckles. "Bring it, sister!"

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have here a bottle of Ogden's Firewhiskey. We're stepping it up!" Fred or George announced in an overdramatic posh English accent.

"Well, let's 'ave it then!" A sandy haired boy crowed, although his accent seemed more genuine.

"Rachel, Firewhiskey's stronger than regular whiskey." Bolt warned, but she too was too far gone to be all that responsible.

Rachel nearly beat Clarisse. Nearly as in, Clarisse bowed out after she finished one bottle and Rachel had moved onto the second one, without stopping.

But then, Rachel set down her half finished second bottle and clutched her mouth.

"Ooh boy, she's gonna hurl!"

"Elizabeth, into the bucket over there!"

Rachel bent over, touching her forehead to her bare knees, breathing slowly. Firewhiskey had a burn that she'd expected, but it had still hit her hard. The room spun around her and the lights became dizzyingly bright. The blue was no longer soothing, it was sharp and piercing.

She raised her head, after a few breaths. "Done!"

"Alrighty, then! Elizabeth's a double round winner! How much is that? Five drachmas, nine galleons, and seven sickles! " Travis cheered. "Who's next? Who can beat her record?"

Someone helped her out of the chair and Rachel found herself sitting on the couch, hugging a bucket. Somebody else had tucked in all the coins into her shorts pocket.

Adventure, she thought. Well, she did something daring. At least, she didn't blackout, so, that's cool.

She smiled, leaning back and turning on her side, pressing her sweaty forehead to the cool wall. The soothing music was good for her mind. She could fall asleep quite easily, despite the people loudly encouraging the new participants. Rachel wondered how people upstairs didn't hear them.

After twenty or so minutes, when she was sure she wouldn't retch, Rachel opened her eyes.

The strangest sight met her eyes.

She saw colours. Different, varied hues spread all over the room. They were like soft blinking lights, emanating from everyone's skin.

Rachel sat up and gaped. The colours were light lights, but their glow was subdued, as though the light preferred to stay with the source, and not shine out in straight lines. The colours gathered like translucent vapour over everyone's skins, shining even through their clothes.

It was strong and wonderful. Rachel looked around and saw the closest people, Silena sitting on the lap of the hefty dude. Their colours were gorgeous.

Rachel reached out to touch Silena's arm. She nearly jumped as the demigoddess looked away from the dude to look at her.

"Oh, hi Elizabeth! Wow, your eyes are really huge?"

"You're really pink." Rachel mumbled. Thick layers of pink mixed with red playing over her skin, to be more precise.

"How much have you had?" The dude asked, his voice carefully void of judgement. Rachel looked up at him and saw strong patches of red interspersed with shades of deep brown.

"You guys match." Rachel said, leaning forwards to touch his cheek. The guy stared at her and Silena cleared her throat.

"Sweetheart? Shall I get you some water?"

"Uhuh."

Silena got up and walked towards the shelf, just off to the side, but Rachel couldn't look away from the dude.

"What's your name?" She asked him.

"Call me Beckendorf. Could you stop touching me?"

"Okay." She sat back down and stared at him. His colours were very active, melting into each other and shifting back into distinct red and brown.

"Bottled, Elizabeth. And I got you some crackers." Silena said, holding them out in front of her. Rachel slowly took them and munched on the crackers.

"Are you together?" She told them, after taking a gulp of the packaged water.

Silena smirked, sitting on Beckendorf's lap again, "Whatever gave you that idea?"

"You match."

They looked at each other and shrugged, "Not really, sweetie. Finish that water, will you?"

"I mean your colours. They match."

It was obvious that the couple had no idea what she was talking about. But Rachel ate her crackers and had her water like a good girl and stood up, feeling solid ground under her boots.

"You really match." She smiled at them. Their colours were amazing to look at. Rachel stared for a few more seconds before walking away.

The group by the drinking table had a vast variety of colours. Rachel had to squint because some of them were quite bright. There were too many of them, so she had to look away. Too many colours, too much beauty.

Rachel had always known people were beautiful. No matter their faces, their skins, their genders, no matter what they looked like, they were beautiful, so amazing to watch and sketch them. Rachel sometimes felt like she could fall in love with anyone, absolutely anyone in the world, if she just stared at them long enough, to find out what they meant when they spoke and walked, and in their movements, their actions, decisions.

Rachel walked back up the stairs to the ground floor, crossing the hall. The colours felt brighter here. People were happy, stuffing their faces with dinner laid out as a buffet of sorts. Drew and Lee were on the platform, eating sausages and giggling with each other. The music had mellowed out to give people some space to just chat and mingle about. Most of them had wandered outside to enjoy the late evening. There were very few clouds but the wind howled and made people basically cuddle with each other. Rachel had no other word for it.

And every one of them had their colours, surrounding their bodies and clothes, dancing with various shades, looking unearthly and divine, almost.

Rachel leaned against the wall again, reaching for food table when Harry came in view.

"You've got to be kidding me." He said, staring at her. "Did you drink an entire box?"

She stared back at him. "You're all green."

His face gave that same soft glow, but it was more prominent in his arms. Green light seemed to envelope his entire body in slow waves. Mixed with this layer was an almost transparent cover of black, floating in between the green. It gave Rachel the impression that his magic was pulsing outside his body.

Maybe that's what it meant for everyone in the house? Rachel could see their powers on the outside, protecting them, keeping them safe.

If so… then why were her arms green too?

Rachel's jaw dropped as she stared at her hands. There was the layer of green flowing almost like line art wind. It curled over her skin, drawing green light from within itself, giving her a sort of warmth she never knew she'd had.

And within the green, her skin seemed to glow a pale, slow gold. The two colours mixed and intertwined, making her feel that bubbles would erupt from the layers, like she was some fairy.

"I'm green." She gasped.

Harry was watching her, looking very worried. "Looks like you'll need a sobriety potion as well. You can sit next to the previous loser over here."

She felt him push her into the now empty kitchen. The light had been dimmed here and Rachel struggled to sit on the platform, next to a guy whose colours were deep green and soft purple. The colours flowed like waves of water, washing over each other, almost mixing but shining bright.

"You're green too!" Rachel pointed at the guy.

He gave a groan, face covered in his palms.

"It'll take a minute, mate." Harry reassured him. He handed a vial of pink liquid to Rachel. "Drink that all at once."

"It's not green."

"Rachel, please. You look ready to fall."

The green on Harry's skin flickered. Rachel looked at it and then down at her own arm. "We have the same green."

"Rachel, I swear, if you won't drink it. I'll have to force it down your throat." Harry warned.

She didn't like his tone. He sounded all angry and stuff.

Pointing at him, she said, "You need to, like, chill."

"Yeah." The suddenly sober guy beside her popped his head from his temporary slump. "You need to chill, dude."

"Okay, you shut up. You told me that you were sky high before you started drinking." Harry snapped.

"What? No, I said, 'Hi, I'm Sky.' That's my name."

Rachel narrowed her eyes at him. "You're purple."

"Huh?"

"Rachel, please, just drink that! Before Percy finds out!"

Rachel sighed and drank the pink concoction just to stop him from blowing a vein. The moment the liquid hit her throat, she felt it turn into a gooey mush. It made her food pipe heavy and she swallowed, feeling the dull and numbing effect spread from her throat to her head.

"Ow…" She dropped her head into her hands, feeling it grow heavy, her neck unable to support it.

"It'll pass." Harry said.

"'Cause it rhymes, you see." The guy said. " _Hi_ and _Sky_ rhymes, that's why I always introduce myself like that."

"I don't recognize you from camp."

"Ah… I'm new."

Like me, Rachel thought, but her tongue felt swollen.

Harry shifted his feet and Rachel guessed he was scrutinising Sky. "Isn't Skye a girl's name?"

"No." The guy said stiffly. "It's my name. Isn't that a girl's hairstyle?"

"What?"

"That thing on your head."

Harry's voice bristled. "My hair is awesome, excuse you."

"You started it."

"It was just a question."

"No, you were being mean."

"What are you? Five?"

"On a scale of one to five? Yeah, I'm pretty much it!"

"Oh please, I've seen better."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah!"

"Well, so have I!"

Rachel gave a groan. Their voices were too loud. The numbness had retreated and now her head could process all the sounds in the house. The music, the chattering, the wind outside…

"Sorry." Sky said.

Rachel closed her eyes, taking deep breaths. She felt the warmth of all the alcohol dissolve away. Her body felt cold.

"I'm sorry, too. It's a nice name." Harry replied.

"Thanks! I like your name as well! Harry has such a … a nice ring to it."

Harry snorted, "Okay. Rach, you good?"

"I hate you."

"You deserve it. Besides, it's better than a hangover tomorrow. And if I catch either of you down there drinking again, I'm going to leave you there, got it?"

"Got it." Sky said, chastened. Rachel just groaned.

It took Rachel another minute to feel better. Then she felt hungry. That must have been a good sign because Harry let her go without a fuss, too engrossed in explaining stuff about Quidditch to Sky.

She made her way to the food table, watching as people danced to pop songs. She grabbed the mashed potato mix, feeling her fragile stomach whine in protest of the music. Rachel balanced the plate on her knees, as she sat on the steps outside the house, watching the dozen people walk aimlessly around the grounds. She used a spoon to dig into the mix. The potato was surprisingly gentle on her taste buds. Perfect.

The colours were still there. They lit up the horizon because the people were happy. She saw many of them in pairs, linking arms and laughing and spinning on the grass, without a care in the world. There was something raw and awe-inspiring in the non-verbal interaction of the night.

Rachel spotted DJ in the distance. His colour was the brightest. It was baby blue, reflecting off of the extra bright blue from the skin of a girl with long blonde hair who stood beside him. Rachel couldn't see their second colours. But she could see that each blue played off of each other, different shades. But shade wasn't the right word. Different blues.

She also saw Percy and Annabeth walking along by the side of the ward. Rachel stared at their colours.

Annabeth's was golden and silver. It was clear even from a distance. It was vibrant and artsy and alive. Percy's was softer and deeper, blue tinted with a layer of green. The colours settled around him, interacting with Annabeth's. They weren't even holding hands, just walking beside each other. But Rachel could see the connection. She could see the colours leave their skin to touch each other, gliding over the layers like a kiss.

Rachel shuddered. It was too intimate and potent. She wasn't supposed to look at it. A connection like that seemed sacred.

She looked away and caught sight of a Huntress of Artemis. That was obvious. The silver glow all around her was very telling. The second layer was black, clinging close to her. Beside the girl stood a boy, nearly the same height. He had the same close black colour touching his skin. The first layer was an perfect mix of red and brown, but she wasn't sure if she could call it bronze. His red-brown colour was more visible the more he grinned at whatever she told him.

Nico and Bianca were very close, Rachel could tell. She didn't even have to actually see them. The colours told her the story.

Rachel dug into her mashed potato, shaking her head. It was a strange, strange thing. Visions and colours. Did Lily Potter have the ability as well?

"No bangers?" Someone asked.

Rachel flinched at the loud voice. She wasn't sure if she was extra sensitive to the sounds around her, or if she was just jumpy right now.

She looked up to the owner of the voice and gawked at the person.

At first, she couldn't even see a face. The dark orange and gold colours of fire hovered all over their body, very protective and very powerful. Rachel almost felt the warmth, chasing away the cold effect of the sobriety potion.

Or may be that was the potato.

"What?"

"Banger?" The girl said. Rachel blinked and she saw a face.

Almost heart shaped, with a sharp chin, red face, quite a lot of freckles, even more than Rachel's. The newcomer had short hair, the longest strands growing past her ears. Through the haze of colours, Rachel observed sharp and bright red hair.

She wore a tank top and faded jeans, not really party wear, but she pulled it off. It made Rachel feel like she'd dressed up for the event.

She made Rachel feel warm inside, hands shaking, head empty, and mind incoherent.

"Huh?"

"Bangers with your mash." The girl said, exasperated. "You have only the potato. Is that filling?"

Rachel looked back at her half empty plate. "What's a … banger?"

"The meat. What do Americans say…? Sausages."

She snapped her fingers as she said the word.

"Oh, I wasn't feeling up to it."

"You okay?"

"Yeah… just, weak stomach."

She nodded. "Too much Ogden's."

Rachel swallowed, nervously. "Uh…"

The girl smirked and Rachel's heart nearly stopped. That was the single most epic expression she'd ever seen. Rachel's fingers itched to find a pen and paper to sketch that look, that twist of her lips, the way a few freckles disappeared, and how her eyes seemed to light up with amusement.

"Heard you were the double round winner." She said, sitting on the steps next to Rachel. "Nice going."

Somehow, Rachel found it in her to give a response. "Is that what everyone's calling me?"

"Yeah… My brother, Fred, was there. He said he'd never seen anyone chug three entire cans of beer along with two bottles of Firewhiskey."

The red headed twin, Rachel remembered. Which meant she was part of that family. The Weasleys.

Ginny Weasley.

"Pretty impressive, I guess."

Rachel cleared her throat. "You drink?"

"Na. I've had a shot. But… yeah, may be once I'm seventeen I'll see the appeal."

"How old are you?"

"Fourteen. You?"

"Fifteen."

She gave her a look. "When did you start?"

When did she start drinking? It had been years.

"A while… I have… stuff."

"Issues."

"Sure."

"Did I hit a nerve? People say I'm blunt."

"No, no. I know my shortcomings." Rachel had another spoon of potato. "You ate?"

"Yup. I'm surprised they still have food. I was sure between my brothers, we'd have finished the entire thing."

"A connoisseur of food?"

"More like a hog." Ginny rolled her eyes. She stared into the distance and Rachel followed her gaze. She was looking at DJ and the girl next to him.

"Do you know them?" Rachel asked her.

"My best friends. That's DJ Potter, and that's Luna Lovegood." Ginny pointed at the pair. "And Colin's inside watching something on a mobile phone or what not. He's supposed to be taking pictures… eh, let's see what turns out."

"Colin?"

"My best friend."

"How many do you have?"

"Just the three. You?"

Rachel sat there. A best friend? Could she have a best friend from whom she kept secrets?

"No one that close. You're lucky."

Ginny smiled. "Thanks. But you have friends, right."

"Oh yeah, tons."

"Cool, I'm Ginny Weasley."

Rachel was about to introduce herself when she froze. Shit! She wasn't supposed to say her real name. She wasn't sure if Ginny knew about Rachel's existence. What if DJ hadn't told her?

"Elizabeth… Chastain!"

"Cool. So… I know how you guys introduce yourself, so I'll try the same." Ginny turned around to face her. "I am Ginny Weasley, Gryffindor. Magical Ability: I am able to scorch the hell out of you."

Rachel made a choking sound. "Wh…what?!"

Ginny laughed. "Sorry! I just wanted to see you … all blushing. I mean, you are blushing, right? You don't have a fever?"

The moment she said it, Rachel realised how hot her face was. Even her ears burnt in the cool wind.

"Funny." Rachel sat up straight. "I'm Elizabeth Chastain! Er… undetermined! Magical Ability: I am able to tell your future!"

Ginny stopped laughing. "Really?"

"Yes. I predict that you will meet someone who's gonna ask you for a dance."

Ginny stared. It was Rachel's turn to smirk. "Wanna dance?"

* * *

 **I'm on tenterhooks, people. Stay tuned for the third part of the party. Fun fact: Sky, the person Harry's totally chatting up, is not an OC. He's a canon character from Riordan's HOO. I've altered the personality a bit.**

 **Q: Would you say Aphrodite is the most powerful being if powers are measured on an individual basis?**

 **Cabba.**


	44. Your Dream, Your Nightmare

**Been working through some stuff. Sorry for the late update.**

 **A: Honestly, my opinion on immortals and their powers change so often… Aphrodite may be the most dangerous, she can tip the scales in war with just a snap of her fingers. So many of the myths show how problems arise when mortals get a little too egoistic. And they're not punished because they have to be humble and good, they're punished because only the gods are allowed to be proud… yeah, this can apply to any immortal so… all your answers may be right.**

 **Listening to – Midnight City by M83**

 **Warnings: Underage drinking, panic attack, chronic pain**

* * *

 _Friday, Nov. 16, 10:30 p.m.  
Frost Mansion, Gretna Green, Scotland_

It wasn't that Percy wasn't enjoying the party. He liked seeing everyone having the time of their lives. They were all huddled in small groups chatting and giggling about a hundred different things. When dinner was over, the music became louder and soon enough, thirty teens were back inside, dancing and screaming to the beats. The food was replaced with lighter snacks, the lights shone through the house. Everyone was satisfied and high on energy.

Percy wished he could join them.

He sat at the top of the stairs on the first floor, looking around to watch them. The locket was cold under his hoodie. His chest was even colder. There was something heavy in his throat, like a lump that he couldn't swallow down. He blamed that on whatever was going on in the Den. Travis had made three attempts to distract Percy from venturing down there.

He also blamed it on the prickling sensation he could feel in his gut. It felt like something was on the edge of the horizon, waiting to consume him whole. Percy knew that bad news was on the way. All he had to do was get through the night with a smile on his face.

From his vantage point, he spotted Drew dragging Lee away from the music console to a more private location. Marcus, the Head Boy, and Chris Rodriguez took their spots. Outside the house, right by the French windows, Annabeth was engrossed in an intense chess tournament with her siblings and a few of the students from the chess club at Hogwarts. She'd won them all, but was now playing against Ron, one of the best from the castle.

Harry was slightly out of sight, but Percy could catch the sight of his wayward hair through the kitchen window. He was talking with somebody whose face was out of sight. DJ had wrangled up some courage to ask Luna to dance. They were by the wall, moving their limbs in an odd fashion. Percy wondered if it was a traditional wizard's step.

The most surprising thing was Rachel and Ginny, of all people, dancing with their arms around each other. Percy could almost hear their giggling over the music.

He looked around, observing everyone. They were free. It was almost hard to believe that everyone would soon have to go to war.

Percy took in another breath, finding it difficult. He reached down for his inhaler and shook it. Bad news was coming. But he could pretend to be happy for a while. He was good at that.

He walked past the stairs and into the hall, finding Ron and Hermione seated behind the tables. They were on the floor, leaning against the wall. Ron had his arm around her shoulders, and Hermione laid her head to rest on his. They both had slightly glassy eyed stares.

Percy leaned down to look him in the eye. "Ron. Have you been drinking?"

Ron gave a hiccup. "Yup. Want some?"

He held up a bottle of water. Percy closed his eyes to stall his brewing temper.

"That's not what you'd had."

"Nope. I've been drinking water aaaallllll night!"

"You're telling me you got drunk off of water?"

Ron frowned as he contemplated the question, "…yes?"

Hermione sighed. "You need to chill, Percy. We're just taking a break."

"Yeah. We're making a cake." Ron yawned.

If Percy could take down a god and live to tell the tale, he'd go after Mr. D right now.

"Stay here and sleep it off." Percy told them, standing. He needed to find someone who wasn't drunk.

Unfortunately, it looked like he was out of luck. Percy watched everyone around the house, registering sloppy dancing moves, loud, raucous laughter. There were debates about how many straws one could fit in their mouth, and Percy found Adam Cho trying to beat the score of fifty two that Ernie Macmillan had held for four minutes.

More than half the party was stone drunk and Percy was ready to bash skulls.

He felt her before she spoke.

"Come with me." Annabeth said, approaching from behind.

"Are you drunk?" Percy asked, short of yelling.

Annabeth narrowed her eyes. Her gaze was unflinching and she refused to back down against his glare.

Percy clenched his fists, staring till she took his hand. It was getting too easy to become angry, but it was simultaneously difficult to stay angry, especially when Annabeth insisted on dealing with it right now.

Percy had half a mind to walk away, but his feet moved on their own and he followed her up the stairs and into his room.

The doors to all their bedrooms had been locked beforehand. But Annabeth had just turned the knob and the room was open to them. She'd planned this.

"What are you doing?" He asked, a little worried.

Annabeth directed him to his bed. "I'm going to get you some pastries. You are going to lie down and try to relax. You're too stressed, Percy."

"I'm not… did you see them, Annabeth? They're all completely –"

"DJ said he's multiplying vials of a sobriety potion. We can give them to anyone who's completely kegged. You need to take a half hour power nap –"

"Nap!"

"It'll help you!" Annabeth said, her eyes grey and strong as steel. Percy gritted his teeth behind closed lips. He didn't want to yell at her. But his blood boiled and he felt tension like a tightly wound coil in his gut, ready to spring apart and rip into someone.

But Annabeth wouldn't let that stop her. He knew that. She was as determined as Percy was stubborn.

"Anna –"

"Lie down and close your eyes." Annabeth insisted, her voice soft. "I'm on it."

Percy watched her leave, without another word or even a kiss. Well, there wasn't anybody watching, so there was no need for that. Sometimes, he wondered why they were really even dating.

* * *

When Nico brought Bianca her grape shake, he hadn't expected her to be sitting on the grass, eyes shut tight, face scrunched up like she was in pain.

"Bi?" He called, sitting next to her. She opened her eyes and grabbed the paper cup, downing the drink fast.

"H…hey. Yeah, you took a while."

"Living room's crowded… are you okay?"

Bianca looked troubled. She clenched her fists. Nico didn't think she'd looked so worried when she had first arrived to the party. She had been tired, but her face had been bright with renewed vigour the moment she'd seen him. Nico hadn't remembered any other time that she'd hugged him for so long. He had missed it terribly.

She looked dull now, a shadow crossing her face, and not a comforting one.

"Just had the tremors."

"What tremors?"

Bianca held up her cup and Nico found her grip on it shaking. Her fingers trembled.

"That looks bad." He said in worry, "Does it happen a lot?"

"Only when I get the visions."

He did a double-take.

"Visions?"

Bianca sighed. "Well… not visions… more like feelings. I get this intense cold around me when someone is close to death."

Nico's jaw dropped. She turned back to look at the house.

"Someone in there will die soon. I give it a few months."

Nico's brain replayed the words. It took a few tries for the meaning to hit him. "WHAT?!"

"Shhh!"

" _Bianca!_ "

"Nico, hush!"

"You can't just say that! What d'you mean someone's gonna –"

"Nico!" Bianca slapped a palm over his mouth. "Listen! I get this feeling a lot. Do you have any idea how many people die every day? Every hour?"

Nico smacked her hand away. "So, what? You know when everyone's gonna die? Since when?"

She finished her drink and reached for his. Nico held his cup away from her, glaring.

"A few weeks after I became a hunter." She gave another shudder. "I think I felt something when Zoe was gone… but it wasn't as sharp as it was later. Now, it's really strong."

He stared at her, waiting for her explain it. "But… so, you can feel everyone –"

"No, thank gods! It's especially sharp with people I know. You're the strongest, I think. Luckily, you're not gonna die any time soon, so…"

She gave him a hard smile. "But the people in the party… yeah, not all of them will survive."

"A demigod or…?"

"I can't tell yet. Which means it's someone I'm not close to. I probably just saw them for a moment and the feeling hit me… It could be anyone, I was looking for you when it happened. I wasn't paying attention…"

Nico felt a sick feeling in his stomach. Bianca might not know many people here, but Nico did. He'd spend the first few hours mingling with most of the crowd and as an expert on death and ghosts, he was ready to say that none of them deserved to die.

"Can you… go back in there and search for them? The person who might die?"

Bianca grimaced. "If I don't know them, I won't get that feeling. The pain's nearly gone, anyway."

"It hurts you?"

"It's sensitive." She sat up and looked at the sky. It was cloudless, the stars peeking out of the inky space.

Nico stared at her and then offered her his grape juice. Bianca smiled.

"Besides… every time I try to concentrate on someone in there, Harry distracts me."

That was the strangest sentence Nico had ever heard. He gaped.

"Huh?"

She rolled her eyes. "Not like that, idiot. Harry's … aura… is weird. He always makes me nervous…"

For a second, Nico honestly had no idea what she'd meant by that. Then, it hit him. Harry had died that summer. Twice this year, in fact, if DJ was to be believed.

"Oh my gods." Nico whispered. He'd never thought of that. How could he have skipped over it?! Harry had died before and was still walking around like a normal person.

Nico thrust his cup towards her and struggled to extract his phone from his pants.

"Nico?" Bianca called, frowning. Her voice had an edge to it and her body stiffened as though she was ready for a fight.

Nico switched on his cell, logging onto the _Awaiting Judgement Registry._

The black and red design of the page took a while to load. Nico tapped the side of the case impatiently. It had never occurred to him that Harry's existence had defied hundreds of laws of nature. He'd calmly forgotten that problem until Bianca had brought it up.

The search bar blinked and Nico typed in Harry's name, pressing GO. It took barely a moment.

 **Page not found.**

The words flashed onto the screen and Nico had to stifle a gasp. Bianca snatched the phone from his limp hands.

"How's that…" She refreshed the page, but nothing happened. Harry was missing from the register of living mortals.

Bianca opened another tab and logged into the _Accorded Judgement Registry_.

"That's gonna be fun." Nico muttered.

She typed in the offending name and waited.

 **Page not found.**

"HOW?!" She shrieked. "That's not possible! He's… he's mortal! He can't…"

"May be the site's down?" Nico suggested. Bianca was freaking out enough for the both of them.

"The site's never down! He's not on either lists! You're telling me he isn't alive or dead?"

Bianca's tirade was interrupted by the phone ringing. Nico blinked. It was an unknown caller but his sister took one look at the number and groaned. "We're screwed."

"Who is it?"

She shook her head and answered the call, lowering her voice. "Hello, father. How's it going?"

Nico pressed his ear to the other side of the phone.

" _Bianca_." Their father, Hades, replied, sounding very displeased. " _You're not at camp."_

"No."

" _Whose phone is this_?"

Bianca shared a look with Nico. He nodded.

"It's Nico's."

" _He's there too?"_

"Yeah." Nico answered. "Hi!"

Hades sighed. " _Why are you on both websites?"_

"Is it illegal?"

" _No –"_

"Then what's the problem?"

" _Bianca_." He sounded stern. " _That page is out of bounds. You won't be able to access it_."

"Why not?" Bianca frowned. "He's mortal. Why is he locked out –"

" _Security reasons. I haven't updated his page since he'd first died_."

Nico winced. Bianca's jaw dropped. "I'm sorry, what?"

Hades gave a dramatic groan. " _You were looking up a page from the restricted section. It pinged on my app. Whoever it was –"_

"There's more than one person who's not on the Registries?"

" _Do not interrupt me_." Hades' voice seemed to thunder over the line. Nico clenched his jaw and Bianca's grip tightened over the phone.

" _I'm sure I know who you looked for. Did he ask you to check_?"

"No, he doesn't know anything about the sites. We haven't told anyone."

" _It'd better stay that way. Seeing as how you've told Nico, I'm surprised no one else knows_."

"Nico's your _son_." Bianca spat. "If you can tell me, you can tell him. And since you didn't tell him, I did!"

" _Urgh! Enough with the flair. You sound like Zeus. The both of you are at that dratted party, aren't you?"_

"Yes."

" _Have fun_." Hades sounded like he was holding back from throwing up. " _And tell Jackson, if he ever asks again, that his mortality is under close scrutiny. He better not know the registries exist_."

Their father cut the call, which was a good thing. Neither Bianca nor Nico knew how to respond to that.

* * *

"… a hundred and fifty points, so like I said, it's the most important position on the team." Harry said, folding his arms.

Sky raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. "If the Seeker is the best position, why is your jersey number the last?"

"Seven is a good number!"

"Seven is the last."

"One is boring." Harry snapped.

Sky smirked. "I don't know, I'd like to be a Keeper."

Harry was about to say something along the lines, _You look like a keeper, alright._

He stopped himself. He didn't know why but it was far too easy to flirt with Sky. The bloke was relaxed, sitting on the counter and looking at him with strange eyes that seemed to change colours. Harry wondered if he was a son of Aphrodite. She'd be happy, he supposed.

Sky gave off a presence that made Harry comfortable. He enjoyed standing there and talking to him about nothing and everything. It made his skin tingle with a shiver. The hair on his arms stood on end, but not in alarm. Every time Harry moved to stand closer to him, he remembered himself and tried to lock his legs to the floor. It didn't help that Sky was unbearably cute.

Sky seemed to sense the hesitance on Harry's part. He said, "Right… so, why'd you stop playing?"

"Huh?" Harry was staring at the soft brown curls of his hair (was it brown? It looked black whenever the strobe shone over him. Did his hair change colours as well?)

"Quidditch. You said you used to play it. If you like the game so much, why'd you stop?"

Sky didn't know. He didn't know what happened in the summer. Harry felt the air in his lungs freeze. He could almost feel Ajax breathing down his neck.

Sky's eyes widened. Harry still couldn't tell what colour they were.

"Hey, you okay? Harry?"

" 'M fine." He gritted out. Harry closed his fists and swallowed. "I'm just busy this year… no time for sports."

"Oh. That's… good. For a sec, I thought you had some bad memories or something."

Harry stared. "Why would you think that?"

" 'Cause you looked ready to attack me." He answered. He hopped down from the counter, coming up to almost exactly Harry's height. He was may be an inch taller, but it was not very noticeable considering Harry's hair which stuck up.

"I don't have bad memories about a game."

"You don't need to have bad memories about that specific thing that makes you avoid it. Anything can trigger an experience."

Harry felt a sharp and sour streak of anger hit his next words. "And how'd you know what that's like?"

Sky backtracked, quickly realising that he'd overstepped. "Sorry! I didn't mean… I mean, I haven't had a bad… but my mom, she's been on the field. She has PTSD. I just… know how hard it is for her. I wasn't comparing you to anything, though. Sorry, Harry."

Harry pressed back against the counter, trying to calm himself. He latched on to a different topic. "Your mum? Is she your mortal parent?"

Sky's shoulders dropped in relief. "Yeah… I mean, my biological mom died a long time ago. But my parents adopted me and they're cool."

"That's nice. And do they know that you're a demigod?"

Sky laughed. "Ooh boy, do they ever? I mean, yes, they know. It's hard to keep things from them. We're pretty close."

There was a sparkle in his eyes. Harry found the tension ebbing away. He was smiling. Sky's obvious comfort in talking about his mortal parents was refreshing. Too many campers had traumatic experiences in their childhoods. It was nice to hear a positive story.

"They don't know I'm here, though." Sky continued, sighing. "They probably wouldn't like it if they did."

"Do they know about witches and wizards?"

Sky gave him a curious look. "Yeah… but I haven't told them much…"

Harry nodded and silence settled over them, too comfortable to break. Harry felt his heart beat faster than the music because Sky took a step closer to him. Neither spoke a word. They were barely a foot from each other and Harry swore that Sky's eyes kept darting to his lips.

He should have worn the lipstick.

The strobe in the hall moved and for a moment they were shrouded in darkness and Harry stepped forwards, their faces too close for them to look at each other.

Sky exhaled and Harry got a whiff of a salty scent, probably a remnant of the sobering potion he'd had.

"Can I kiss you?" Sky whispered.

Harry nodded, trying not to smile. "Absolutely."

He wasn't sure how long they'd stayed there. Within an hour, Harry and Sky were sitting on the counter, facing each other and talking about vanta-black, a shade of colour supposedly darker than black. Another hour later found them basically doing nothing but whispering biscuit recipes into each others' skin because they really couldn't move away long enough to really look each other in the eye. It was easier to kiss and talk about stuff, eyes closed.

Harry had never stayed so close to anyone for so long. Physical contact had always seemed too daunting to him. He barely tolerated hugs and only allowed the occasional shoulder squeezes from Sally, Remus and Sirius.

Sky was different. He was new. He had no clue about Harry's emotional baggage. He had no reason to treat him like glass. Harry felt strong and solid, sitting so close to him, legs overlapping, shoulders touching, lips moving slowly one moment and in the other, small gasps of laughter erupting from him when Sky tried to explain why _he_ thought the Sea of Monsters was called the Bermuda Triangle by mortals.

"... because I've seen people in Bermuda shorts, okay? The only thing nightmarish about them is the pattern. They come in all these loud colours and weird designs, it's sorta psychedelic, but... nope, it's not psychedelic, there's no rhyme or rhythm to them. But seriously, the Sea of Monsters is supposed to be the all encompassing hell of absolute demons and yet, people called it the _Bermuda Triangle_?"

Harry pressed his forehead to Sky's neck. His face hurt from grinning. Sky's arm was tight around his waist and it did nothing to staunch the warmth flowing all through his body.

"Or maybe it's the triangle that scares them?" Sky mused. Harry snorted, lifting his head to peck him on the lips.

"Three's a dangerous number." He shrugged as Harry rolled his eyes.

"I thought three's a safe number for demigods?"

"Three is powerful. There's a lot of debate if we can call it 'safe'." Sky sighed. Harry reached up to touch the curls, smiling at how soft they felt under the pads of his fingers.

"We have different numbers to make it easier. Four is safe. Seven is powerful."

"Ah." Sky said. "And what's the dangerous number?"

"Thirteen, I suppose."

"What? No, that's not original." Sky complained. "Come on, Harry! Your school's name is _Hogwarts!_ That's the most creative name possible!"

"I can't tell if you're being sarcastic."

"I'm not! If you have a place named Hogwarts, how can your most dangerous number be thirteen? Everyone expects that! Next you'll say black cats are bad!"

Harry flicked his forehead. Sky jerked back for a moment, but then surged forwards to kiss him on the neck. Giving up the fight against his raging blush, Harry cleared his throat. "Black cats are actually very smart and intuitive. They ... they have a better perception of magical trails and patterns that connect to witches and wizards."

Sky didn't respond. Harry thought he felt teeth. This was it. No turning back. He'd be accused of a sun burn soon enough.

He closed his eyes and threw an arm around Sky's neck, pulling him even closer. It was a good thing no one else had barged into the kitchen. Harry thought he might just fling them back out.

It took them another twenty minutes to start a new conversation. Blood roared in his ears and he was breathing rather loud. Harry kept eyeing Sky's neck.

"This is... like, the best night of my life." Sky grinned. He gave a giggle.

"You're welcome."

Harry felt Sky's hand curled his shirt into a bunch.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"How are you so... sweet?"

Harry raised his eyebrows in question. "Come again?"

"Sweet." Sky repeated. "Like... when people talk about you, they say you're scary and powerful. When I first saw you, I didn't even think you were Harry Potter! But then I saw your face and I was like, _damn!_ Dude! You're sweet!"

"Uh..."

"It's just... I've seen people take a lot of shit and turn really bitter. How are you so cool?"

Harry stared. "What did you say?"

Sky blinked. He looked sleepy. Harry leaned back to get a better look at him. He seemed drunk again, but that couldn't be possible. He'd been with him all this while and all they'd had were the...

Harry turned back to the empty vials of sobriety potion. "Ah, shit."

"Hmm?"

"You should have eaten something after having the potion. My mistake. Wait right here."

Harry stepped off the counter and walked towards one of the shelves, searching for anything edible. But all the food was scheduled to be at the tables and he really didn't feel like living their little bubble of solitude.

"You're like a mom friend." Sky told him.

"Thanks, that's not weird at all."

"Like... my mom does that too, you know? She gets her night terrors and stuff and no matter how much she can't fix herself, she tries to baby me."

Harry turned around to look at him. Sky was leaning against the wall, one knee propped up, head tilted away, and eyes closed.

"It's like... taking care of me will fix her. But it really doesn't."

"Sky –"

"It's not easy for her. I know that, but the thing is she's never let me out of her sight whenever she's home. And my mom knows that it's not good for her, or me –"

"Sky –"

"But that's why I'm here, right? My one night of freedom? They'd freak if they knew –"

"Sky!" Harry reached forwards to grab his arm. Sky was starting to sound delirious.

"And I haven't even told them that I'm not straight!"

"It's fine, Sky."

"It's not... she has her nightmare fuel like you... and she's super sweet like you... cause you both have demons in your heads."

Harry's next words died in his throat. Sky was blinking slowly, not really focused in the present. Harry wasn't in the present either.

For a moment, he could feel Ajax standing right behind him, reaching a long arm to latch onto Harry's neck to never let go.

Sky tried to look at him. "... you do have bad memories..."

Whatever warmth Harry had had with their snog session, was gone. Trying to get a grip over himself, he said, "Wait here."

He walked out, grabbed a bowl of bacon rashers and marched into the kitchen shoving it towards Sky.

"Eat that. I'll be back."

"Cool." Sky rummaged through the bowl leisurely and Harry had to step away, focusing on his breathing.

He had no idea who Sky's parents were or who his mother's 'demon' was. He had no reason to get anxious over that. But something in those words triggered a panic in him. Harry ran out, bumping into several couples on the dance floor.

Someone called out his name. Harry ignored them, wishing he could have run upstairs into his room, but he needed to be outside in the cold air, preferably in the trees.

Too late, he realised that the ward they'd set up didn't touch the tree line. Harry stopped on the grass, falling to his knees, bent over, trying to force air into his lungs. He felt a blistering ache over his skin like someone was holding a flame close to his arms.

"Harry!" Someone kneeled beside him, placing a palm on his back. He flinched and the hand withdrew immediately to his relief.

"Breathe, Harry. Take slow deep breaths."

He couldn't. He was gasping. Shallow gasps of air were barely reaching his lungs. It felt like he had never had this much trouble performing the simple act breathing. There was a sharp ache descending over his head, seeping into his bones and tearing into his brain.

"Ginny, get some ice!"

Footsteps receded and new shadows fell over him.

"Harry, I want you to focus on my voice."

DJ.

"I'm here. Don't worry. We're alright. We're good. The party's great. Everyone's having fun. And you're doing awesome. You just need to breathe with me, can you do that?"

White noise had erupted in his ears, screeching right through his skull. He was screaming. No, not really, but in his head. He was burning. He was stuck in the fire, trapped under a building and burning to death.

 _It happened all of the sudden. He heard the words, "Harry! Catch!"_

"Harry, breathe!"

 _He caught the ball in his hand and looked at it._

"Look at me!"

That stupid snitch grenade.

... he was falling... burning...

Everything stopped.

Harry opened his eyes but nothing worked. He couldn't see anything. Everything was black in his sight. He couldn't hear anything either. His ears felt hot against the cold air, but that was all they could feel.

He was so stunned that he simply sat there for a bit, face going slack.

After a minute or so, he heard a voice say, "Better?"

It took him a while to respond. "DJ?"

"Yeah."

He reached down to feel the grass beneath them. The blades curled around his fingers sending a soothing sensation through his arms and down his spine. Harry inhaled and let out a shuddering breath.

It took a few tries to get his vision back. He looked up and found Anthony Goldstein standing behind DJ, hands hovering over Harry's head, barely touching his hair.

"You good, Potter?"

"Yeah."

"Ready for the rest of the sounds?"

He nodded. In a second, the noise and music from the party made themselves known, but it came in slow waves and not as a barrage. When Harry could experience all his senses, he took another breath.

Then he realised that at least a dozen people were standing around him.

"Show's over." He called out. "Go back."

"Okay, then." Ginny said, appearing in view. She held out a cup full of ice cubes. Harry frowned. "What am I supposed to do with this?"

"Dunno. Ask the panic expert here."

"Ginny!" DJ hissed. He shook his head, turning back to Harry. "I read somewhere that chewing on ice helps you."

"Pretty sure it's gonna give me brain freeze."

"You're supposed to hold the ice in your hand during a panic attack." Goldstein explained. "It'll help you focus on the cold."

Harry glared down at the grass, mind rebelling at the term 'panic attack'.

A few people left the group but DJ was still kneeling.

"Go on, I'll catch up." He told someone. Goldstein shot a smile at Harry and walked away as well.

Rachel leaned down. It took Harry a while to recognize her through the straight hair and bland face.

"Want ice cream?"

That actually sounded good. His expression answered her and she told someone standing behind Harry to get some. Harry sat on the ground, one hand still gripping the grass. He felt someone's stare prickle his neck.

Looking up, he found Bianca di Angelo gaping down at him, a look of horror on her face.

He watched her as her gaze shifted to DJ and then Rachel, then back to him again.

"Ex... excuse me." She muttered, hurrying away from the trio. Nico, who'd been standing beside her, looked after her, bewildered.

"Um... you're feeling better, Harry?"

"Yep."

"Okay, cool." Nico turned and ran after her.

The three of them stared at the siblings.

"Ookay?" Rachel whispered, confused. She turned back to him. "Do you want me to stay or...?"

Harry sighed. "I'm fine... I just lost it, for a mo. What about you? Found your adventure?"

Rachel blushed furiously.

"Am I meant to assume a yes?"

"What?" DJ frowned looking between them.

Rachel clicked her tongue. "Er... DJ was making out with someone!"

Harry's jaw dropped, "What?"

"What?!" DJ shrieked. "I did not!"

"Oh." Rachel intoned. "I thought you were."

The fourth year glared at her. "I was literally just talking to Luna!"

"Luna?" Harry couldn't help the smile. It was DJ's turn to blush.

"Shut up! You should have seen Rachel! She was dancing with Ginny the whole night!"

"So?"

"So? What so? You... she's my best mate!"

"Is that synonymous with secret girlfriend or something? I'm not seeing the problem."

"Wait." Harry sat up. "You were dancing with Ginny?"

DJ blinked. "Oh shi... shoot."

Harry was about to... he wasn't sure what he was going to say, but it would have been memorable. Unfortunately, Percy interrupted them and gave Harry a cup full of Treacle Tart ice cream.

"Here you go."

"Thanks, Perce."

"No probs. Just a question, did you switch off the lights in the kitchen?"

Harry frowned. Had he... oh. Right, Rachel and Sky had been drunk off their arses and Harry had to turn off the light to make it less of a hassle for them to stay in the kitchen... and then, he hadn't switched it back on especially during their little... moment...

"I did."

"Okay. Well, there was this dude sitting on the counter and eating bacon straight from the bowl."

Percy wrinkled his nose as though it was a debilitating problem they had to fix immediately. Harry nodded solemly. "I'll go over there at once."

"You can stay here. I was just saying –"

"I'm feeling better. It's fine. Thanks, guys. Get back to the party. Have we had any problems? Other than me."

"No problems." DJ said firmly as they stood up. "Not even you."

"Aphrodite left." Percy said.

"Oh thank... I mean, that's a shame."

Percy rolled his eyes. "I pretended to barf and Annabeth started helping me. So, it was a sweet and disgusting situation for her. She was happy when she left. No fuss."

"Huh." Rachel said. Percy shot a sharp look at her, but she turned around and walked back to the house, head held high.

DJ frowned. "What's up with you two?"

Percy shrugged, leaving as well. Harry took a bite out of his ice cream, feeling the cold hit his soul. It was pleasant.

* * *

The colours had dimmed down. There was barely any hint of it left on anyone. Rachel missed the green and gold of her skin, wishing she could see it again. The hint she had that what she'd seen was real, was that Ginny's arms still gave a soft orange glow.

That was how she found Ginny by the stairs leading down to the Den. The orange light demarcated her out of the crowd.

Rachel stood by her, looking into the basement. Somehow, the crates of liquor had been abandoned and there were a bunch of drunk teens sitting in a half hazard circle, playing Spin-the-Bottle.

"Hey. Wanna join?" Rachel asked, nodding towards the game.

Ginny grimaced. "No thanks. I see three of my brothers down there. It's not gonna end well."

Rachel spotted the aforementioned redheads. She could single out specific physical traits they shared with Ginny. She really wished she could sketch out the Weasleys.

"How's Harry?"

"He's good. It's been..."

Ginny frowned. "He's had it tough. Don't bother."

"No, I wasn't judging." Rachel had forgotten that Ginny didn't know about her familiarity with Harry. It made her feel rotten all over again. She should have asked DJ if he'd explained about her.

"Hey, are you alright with heights?" Ginny asked suddenly.

"Sure... depends, are we gonna jump out of a tree?"

Ginny smiled. "Nope. But I bet the terrace has a great view. Come on!"

She grabbed Rachel's hand, fingers laced, and pulled her towards the grand staircase. Rachel couldn't hold back a giggle as they raced up the steps, reached the third floor, and headed for the final door.

"It's probably locked." Rachel said, hoping it wasn't. Ginny looked so excited that she wanted to see what she had in mind.

"Luckily, I have magic." Ginny slipped out her wand from her pocket and tapped on the door knob. " _Alohomora_."

The door swung open. Rachel caught the edge, feeling the cold wind hit her hair, sending the straight strands flying. It felt so odd to have limp hair. It felt dead on her head. Her own curls had made it seem that her hair was alive, with the volume of space it took. It was strange. She missed her wild hair. She wished Ginny would see her like that.

Rachel had half a mind to take off the pendant to show Ginny what she looked like.

"I see why they wouldn't allow anyone up here." Ginny whispered. They stepped outside, closing the door behind them. Rachel noticed the short walls around the height.

"Parapets are so dangerous. I don't even know why anyone would have them." Ginny complained.

"I think its space is to build another floor." Rachel shrugged, strolling around the spacious roof. She reached down to take off her boots.

Ginny tipped her head back to stare up at the sky. "This would have been the best spot if the Aurora was out."

Rachel looked up. "Yeah. Which way is North?"

Ginny pointed somewhere off to the right. Rachel turned and raised a hand as though drawing through the air. "The lights would start from there (she indicated a high point) and weave across the sky like this (she drew a wave) and end up right... here (she pointed above them)."

They stared, imagining the phasing colours of the night sky. Rachel thought it would look like the auras she'd seen tonight. She looked down at Ginny, catching the last fading glimpse of the orange streaks through her skin.

No, she decided. Nothing could compare to people's auras. Not even the Northern Lights.

"Mars is bright tonight." Ginny muttered. She sat down, crossing her legs. "Great! I sound like Luna."

Rachel sat beside her, bending her knees and placing her chin on them. She looked towards Ginny. "Luna's the one with the blond hair?"

"Yeah. She's good at conversation. I am decidedly not."

Rachel gave her a gentle nudge on the shoulder. "We talked about food. You explained the 12 different ways to whip up a Weasley special Shepherd's pudding."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "I'm surprised you stuck around after that."

"Honestly, I'm surprised I stuck around after seeing you dance! My shins are bruised!" Rachel straightened her legs and waved her arms.

She laughed when Ginny spluttered, "You said you had fun!"

"I did. I had a lot of fun. Thanks, Ginny. You've made my night."

Rachel's sudden sincerity caught her off guard. "...I had fun too. I didn't think I could ever stand someone who would talk at me about the differences between artificial brushes and pony hair brushes. But here you are!"

"Here I am." Rachel grinned. "And you looked really interested, so that means, I'm either a really great conversationalist, or you just have the best poker face with a smile slapped on it."

Ginny leaned back, placing her palms on the floor to rest her weight on them. She narrowed her eyes. "So... tell me, Elizabeth. Tell my future."

Rachel groaned. "Are you still hung up on that?"

"You weren't kidding about it, so yeah!"

She gave a sigh. Ginny had guessed correctly that Rachel had been telling a half truth about the future sensing bits.

"I can't make it happen. It just does. I don't control it."

Even Rachel could hear the whining in her own voice. Ginny's smile dropped.

"Sorry. I just know somebody who has Seer powers. I wanted to know if it as the same with a demigod."

"Oh. It's... probably not." Rachel gave a stiff grin. "I mean, who... who did you have in mind?"

"Someone who... well, she's a friend of the aunt of my friend... DJ's aunt's friend, I think."

DJ? Rachel thought. DJ knew someone who had future seeing abilities?

 _I think she's talking about Alice Cullen_ , Bolt whispered. Rachel jumped. She'd nearly forgotten about her Familiar.

 _Thanks_ , Bolt huffed.

"What's wrong?!" Ginny asked, alarmed.

"Um… your aunt's friend! I mean, your friend's aunt?"

"Friend's aunt's friend. Or sister." Ginny said, looking back at the sky. "She has the on and off visions of the future. But she can only see futures of vampires and mortals and muggles. Magic interferes with her gift."

"Oh." Rachel frowned, trying to recall anyone ever explaining that to her. DJ had never mentioned it.

"That's specific… my visions are all over the place. I don't know much about it, to be honest."

Ginny nodded. "Cool. So… what do demigods do for fun?"

"We eat food." Rachel said, seriously.

Ginny blinked. "Now I wish I was a demigod."

"Why?"

"I like food."

Rachel snorted so hard her nose hurt. She'd seen Ginny grab the burgers off the table, so she had no doubt in believing that.

"What do witches do for fun?" She asked, touching her throbbing nose.

"We fly."

"Fly? Like, on a broomstick?"

"Yup."

"Are you kidding?!"

"No." Ginny exhaled. "Damn, I should have brought my broom. But Hermione had insisted not to… yeah, this is the last time I listen to her!"

"Dude!" Rachel gasped. "I would have loved to see that!"

"I know right! Next time, I promise."

"Urgh!" Rachel laid down on her back, against the rough surface of the terrace floor. It wasn't really meant for lying down but she'd wanted to display some kind of drama. "You guys can fly!"

"You can fly too, right? You got pegasi in your stables!"

Rachel gawked. Demigods had pegasi?

 _Percy has a Pegasus named Blackjack_. Bolt muttered.

"He he." Rachel said, nervously. "Right… yeah, but they sort of make me nervous. I haven't… "

Ginny laid on the ground, beside her. "You haven't flown before? I should have brought my broom. We could have gone for a ride."

There was some sort of implosion in Rachel's head. The only image she could conceive of, was she and Ginny sitting uncomfortably on a wooden broomstick, hovering a hundred feet in the air, with Bolt clinging to the twigs. As odd and awkward as it sounded, Rachel couldn't stop thinking of how they might have been sitting on the broom. It might be like two people on a bike, seated close, arms around the rider.

Despite the cold night, her entire body was warm with the thought.

Ginny turned her head to look at Rachel. "We play a sport called Quidditch. That's what the broom's for."

"I play soccer." Rachel blurted.

"Oh. Is that the kicking-ball game?"

"Sure."

"Nice. My knowledge of football-soccer is whatever Dean tells me about it. Apparently West Ham is doing great."

"My knowledge on international teams is lacking." Rachel admitted. "I'm more of a focus-on-me, sort of person. Like… for my tryouts, I wowed the team by doing back-flips rather than spouting soccer facts. I'm still surprised I got in."

Ginny looked like she wasn't sure what to make of the news. "Uhuh. You made the team. That's great! I'm on the Gryffindor team at the castle. But I play Seeker."

"That's the snitch catching part, right?"

"Yeah! Yeah, I really want to be a Chaser, though. Harry dropped out for the year, though. Hopefully, if he rejoins next year, I'll be able to try for Chaser…"

Rachel listened as Ginny spoke about things she only half understood. There was something incredible about her. Rachel couldn't really explain it, but she was eager to find out.

* * *

Harry walked back into the house. It was nearly one in the morning. He stifled a yawn, feeling tiredness settle under his skin. He held his cup of ice cream, taking obedient scoops. When he reached the kitchen, he found it empty.

"Great." He muttered, swallowing a large spoonful of tart. Wincing at the freezing burn, he walked into the foyer, looking around for Sky. Amidst the tired bodies, Harry scanned anyone that looked like they could be holding a bowl of bacon.

Colin and Connor were on the couch, giggling at whatever they were talking about. Silena and Beckendorf were one of the few couples slow dancing to the soft music that Marcus and Chris had switched on. Ron and Hermione had fallen asleep behind the tables. DJ was sitting on one of the sofas, looking tired as hell. Luna was running a hand through his hair. It looked like they'd done that before, but it still seemed very private to Harry.

He peeked in to the den, went upstairs to search the rooms and headed back to the grounds, all in vain.

Could Sky have left? Harry felt the air freeze in his body, and it had nothing to do with the ice cream. There was a sick feeling brewing and he stumbled towards the bathroom, trying to take in deep breaths.

The door was closed and Harry rapped on it impatiently.

"Occupied!" Sky called out, his voice wrung out. Harry nearly dropped his cup.

"Sky? It's me, it's Harry!"

There was a beat and then the lock clicked open. Harry opened the door and spotted Sky sitting on the tiles beside the open commode. He looked vaguely pale under his dark skin.

"Hey." Harry whispered, dropping to his knees. "You okay? Was it the potion? Was it too strong?"

Sky blinked slowly. "Huh?"

"Did you throw up?"

"No… But I had the feeling… you really are the mom friend, Harry."

Sky leaned into Harry's hand.

"Right. Can you eat some more?"

"No. Don't want to force it… it's not the potion, don't worry." Sky added when he saw Harry's worried face.

"Was it the sweets?"

"Hmm, no. It's not… it's me, Harry. I'm not in tip-top form."

Sky slipped forwards suddenly, nearly banging his head on the toilet. Harry lurched forwards, dropping his ice cream cup and catching Sky by the shoulders. With a grunt, he heaved Sky back to lean against the cold wall.

"Shit!" Sky gasped. "Sorry…"

"Are you sick?" Harry frowned, still keeping a strong grip on him.

"Sick… cursed… take your pick."

Harry stared. Sky was quiet till he opened his eyes, caught Harry's gaze and sighed. "Sorry. I shouldn't have… I said stuff I shouldn't have. I spoke about my moms, didn't I?"

"Your…?"

"Moms. I have two mothers. They adopted me… I told you this, right?"

"Yeah." Harry sat up. "You did."

"Yeah, I shouldn't have said anything… I shouldn't have come, I shouldn't be here. Gods, they were right."

Sky sounded so sad and defeated, Harry felt angry, holding him carefully.

"Why did you say that? What curse? Why –"

Sky stretched out his legs, laying them in front of Harry. He blinked.

Sky's feet were _huge_. Not that they were just a larger size, they were almost, ridiculously out of proportion of his legs. Harry leaned down and then realised the problem. His feet were swollen. The large sneakers he wore, were colourful and a mere distraction to the untrained eye.

"Are you… in pain?" Harry whispered. "What happened to your feet?"

He breathed slowly as he answered, "Mom said it happened years ago. Something about poison and … well, the veins are bloated. It's like a blood clot."

Harry's nostrils flared. "Clot? But… Sky, that could be fatal!"

Sky winced. "Yeah… but I said, it's _like_ a blood clot."

"Are you being funny?"

"No, Harry. No. It's been like that forever. Forget about it. I just get dizzy spells sometimes."

"That's not – dizzy spells! I can't forget that! Can't you… can it be –"

"I've tried." Sky replied patiently. He seemed to have gotten his breath back. "I've been to a lot of people searching for a cure. Nothing, not even the gods can heal this."

Harry stared at his shoes, trying to imagine the state of bloated veins. "What about the Golden Fleece?"

"No dice."

"Ambrosia? Nectar?"

"No."

"Not even a god's blessing?"

"Nope." Sky rolled his eyes. "Harry, this has been here for years. I was afraid I scared you off by talking about my mom."

"There's few things that scare me. One of them is purported curses that can end people!" Harry snapped.

Sky blinked. "Oh… well. Nothing you can do about it."

Harry's fingers twitched. "I can try."

"Try… what?"

"I can try to heal you. Take off your shoes."

Sky stared. "Um… That's not sexy in the least, Harry."

"I'm serious."

"So am I."

"Sky." Harry glared at him. "I can heal you."

Sky's smile faded. "I didn't realise you were more powerful than a god."

"I can at least try."

"You sound like my mom, stop it."

"You stop it!" Harry snapped. "Jeez, why do you keep saying that?!"

Sky swallowed. "Sorry. It's just…"

"Mummy issues?"

"Don't even. That's not funny."

"Daddy issues?"

"I've never met my dad. How can I have daddy issues?"

Harry sighed. Sky looked so sincere, he seemed naïve.

"Look." Harry said. "I can at least try. Will you let me?"

Sky frowned. "You can heal people?"

"Sort of. It's a side effect of my magic."

"Hell of a side effect. Does it hurt you?"

"It won't. Take off your shoe."

Sky squinted. "Your entire face is red. Were you lying?"

"Sky…"

"Dude, I thought we'd connected! I gave you a hickey! How can you lie to me?!"

"Sky."

"Blasphemy!" Sky called out dramatically, placing a hand over his head. Harry pressed his lips together to maintain his strict expression.

"Sky, if you –"

"If it hurts you, nothing doing. I'm not in pain, so forget it."

Harry eyed him. "You're not in pain?"

Sky smiled, leaning forwards to roll up his jeans. Right above his socks, Harry spotted a thin band, like rubber, running around his legs. Sky touched the band and it gave off a simple brown light.

"It keeps my feet more or less numb." Sky explained. "I can feel my toes and all, but no pain."

Harry kept frowning. "Sounds like a temporary solution."

Sky stared back. "Yeah… it's like… going to therapy to get your guardians off your back that you're getting better… but it's not really that neat."

Harry sucked in a breath. "What did you say?"

"I had therapy for a few years. PT's not very fun. Well, the swimming was okay. But practicing with powers and learning to walk and run on bloated feet is no picnic…"

Harry had been so sure that Sky had been talking about him. "Physical therapy?"

"Yeah." Sky fell quiet before whispering, "You had that too?"

"No…"

"Harry, you've had therapy?"

"… I'm having it now. I… every Saturday. I have to … talk to this Healer about my thoughts and emotions…"

The aversion was very clear in his voice. Instead of pity, Sky gave him a look of understanding.

"So… since it's not easy to deal with your emotions, you try to tackle everything physical."

Harry looked away, letting go of his shoulders and leaning against the wall too.

"Something like that. The physical stuff is easy. At least, easier than the cesspool in my head."

Sky was still staring at him. Harry watched as he raised his hand, fingers reaching for his face.

And he surprised himself when he leaned into his hand. Harry felt his fingers pressed against his skin, thumb on his cheek, fingers against his hair. It was a soft and warm hold. Harry felt him touch his lips.

"Are you scared?"

Harry heard the full question. Sky had asked him, _Are you scared too?_

He didn't answer.

Sky nodded after a minute of silence. "That thing… that … the thing you're afraid of… is it a real thing?"

Harry thought about missing playing Quidditch, missing the feeling of flying, fear of being trapped in a fallen building, fear of burning, fear of losing air, fear of Ajax.

"Yeah."

Sky exhaled. He looked relieved for him. It was a strange feeling. He pressed his forehead to Harry's and they closed their eyes.

"The best thing about a tangible fear, you can be its nightmare too."

He didn't know Sky. He'd never met him before today. But Sky had gotten right to the root of it and had come out holding something new. The thought of Harry being Ajax's nightmare, him being strong enough _to make Ajax fear him…_

Harry suddenly felt powerful.

* * *

 **Woo, that's long! Stay tuned, readers!**

 **Q: Have you figured out who Sky is?**

 **Cabba.**


	45. The Kids Are Not Alright

**Sherlock Harry Winchester: Mystery's back in this chapter, have fun!**

 **Catie Cat: Hope camp was great! I love your curiosity. It's part of the reason why I was able to write this chapter. Yes, I am going to extended to Gaia's plot. Hint: Sky features more in that part.**

 **A: Sky is going to feature more later on. We'll meet him again… never fret.**

 **Some of the sections are pretty short, but it's fine. Just looking at what different characters are up to.**

 **Listening to – We Will Rock You by Queen**

* * *

 _Saturday, Nov. 17, 2:40 a.m.  
Frost Mansion, Gretna Green, Scotland_

It was nearly three in the morning when people really started to nod off. There was only so much sugar could do.

Nico and Bianca helped the demigods towards the hearth. Most of the witches and wizards had already left for the castle. The music had mellowed to a soft tune, designed to render everyone slow and stupid. Nico yawned thrice in a minute.

Bianca smacked his arm. "Go to camp, Nico. You're turning into that Clovis guy."

"How are you still alert?" Nico whined, rubbing his eyes.

"I'm used to late nights. But it's clearly past your bedtime. Go on, Nico."

He nodded and she gave him a quick hug. "We'll spar tomorrow, okay bro? Good night."

"Night." He yawned.

Bianca caught his shoulder suddenly. He stopped when he saw her stern expression. "And… don't tell anyone… you know."

He blinked. "Don't tell anyone that someone's gonna die? Or don't tell anyone that Percy and Harry are not really alive?"

"Neither!"

He nodded again, but she saw her look over the hall nervously. Harry was talking to Adam Cho and another guy Nico didn't know. Percy, Annabeth, and Thalia were shutting the music system. DJ, Luna, and Colin were clearing up the tables. Malfoy was talking to Rachel and Ginny by the curtains. Ron and Hermione had gone outside to clear up the grounds and remove the ward.

The lack of music made Nico's skin prickle. He turned towards Bianca. "You know, don't you? You know who's gonna die."

She swallowed. "It's not… concrete. The future can change." She hesitated again, "Just… tell your friends to be careful, alright?"

Nico sighed, but agreed anyway. He'd figure it out tomorrow. He was too tired to focus on this right now.

* * *

Adam left right after the Hunters. They'd all helped with cleaning the house before Sirius and Sally were due. Harry was glad the night had gone as smooth as it could. Despite the few hiccups, everyone had a fairly grand time. That was all he could ask for.

He led Sky towards the hearth. Sky was holding pumpkin juice in a glass tumbler that was decorated with tiny oranges and roses. It was part of a set of dishes that was Sally's favourite.

"I'm going to miss you." Sky whispered.

Harry rolled his eyes. "I'll drop by camp during the holidays. Promise."

"Yeah. Still gonna miss you."

Harry grinned, slipping his hands into his pockets. He felt his cheeks turn red. "I had fun tonight. I mean… it was a better night that what I'd expected. Thanks for that."

Sky looked at him curiously. "So, you're not turned off about all that talk about my parents?"

"It weirded me out, sure. It was nice to talk about them, but I really didn't need to know about the hair dye your mum uses, so…"

Sky looked mortified. "Urgh. Sorry you had to hear that."

"Nothing wrong with hair dye. I mean, green streaks sound sick."

"It does! It looks great on her. And it really goes with her green rain coat, the one I told you about!"

Harry chuckled. "Next time, we'll find something else to talk about. No offense to your mums."

Sky downed his pumpkin juice. "Cool! That's… yeah, no talking about parents on dates, got it."

Harry stared, "What?"

"What?" Sky responded too quickly.

They stood there, gaping at each other till he heard Hermione calling him from outside.

"Er… See you." Harry mumbled, face burning. He turned around and half ran away from Sky. That had gotten awkward fast. Dates? Multiple? They hadn't even been on a first date. They hadn't even talked about that!

Hermione and Ron were waiting by the steps by the grounds. Harry felt the sharp cold wind make his tired eyes water.

His friends were kneeling on the ground. Hermione had one palm pressed on the mud, eyes closed, a frown on her face.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked, smile dying. Ron looked up, face unnaturally sombre.

"Hermione thinks the earth shifted here."

Harry dropped to his knees to look at the mud. Ron shone a light on it and he saw it. On the ground, a line about three feet long ran across the dirt. It reminded him of the crack in the ground at camp, in the front of the Big House, that had been made when Nico had sent the fiery skeletons to the Underworld.

This line was slightly to the left of the entrance into the hall. It could easily have gone unnoticed if no one was paying attention.

"Recently." Hermione decided. "Someone opened the ground."

"How recent?"

"A few hours. Tonight, I guess." She said, sitting back. "It could just be someone playing a joke. It might be nothing, but it feels more significant."

Harry frowned. "And you didn't feel it when it was opened?"

Hermione grimaced. "I… might have been distracted."

He remembered that the two of them had gone to the den, after the chess tournament. They must have drank some of the firewhiskey.

"It's fine." He said. "It may not mean anything. So someone opened the earth. No big deal. In fact, Nico might have done it, so…"

"Can he?"

"Oh, he definitely can." Harry sighed. "Go on, I'll be up at the castle after Rachel leaves."

Ron suddenly groaned. "Damn! We haven't spent any time with her!"

"Next time." He assured them. They walked back into the house and Harry closed the large French doors, finally feeling warm again. He looked around the room, finding it emptier than before.

Sky, DJ, Luna, Colin, Malfoy, and the Hunters, had left. Ginny was still waiting with Rachel by the couch. Percy and Annabeth were with them. It looked a little odd. Harry blinked, realising that Annabeth, Rachel, and Ginny was engrossed in a conversation, while Percy was looking off to the side, frowning in silence.

Harry knew that Percy and Rachel hardly spoke to each other now, but this was starting to get ridiculous. He was downright sulking.

"Ginny!" Ron called, "Come over here, a sec."

Ginny shot him a dirty look. Then she turned towards Rachel, expression going very soft. Harry stared. He'd never seen her look like that unless Luna was in the room.

"I'll see you, then." Ginny sighed.

"Yeah, sorry. I've got to go to the terrace… uh…"

In a move that surprised everyone, and shocked Ginny herself, Rachel surged forwards and kissed Ginny on the cheek.

Ron's jaw dropped. Harry and Hermione were speechless. Percy looked just as stunned as Ron, but Annabeth looked very pleased, nearly smirking.

"Er… bye!" Rachel squeaked, turning around and fleeing up the stairs.

Ginny was a few degrees away from bursting into flames. Harry actually felt the room grow hotter.

"Ginny!" Ron yelled. "Just… take the holders to Luna, will you?"

He held out a small crate full of the holders they'd used to construct the dome shield around the house. Ginny glowered, snatching it off his hands and flipping her head towards them in a nonverbal gesture of farewell.

The fire from the hearth turned red for her as she disappeared.

Hermione cleared her throat in the silence. "Well, it was a fun night!"

"Oh, yes!" Annabeth agreed, still grinning like the devil. Percy mumbled something to her.

Ron stepped forwards. "We should definitely do this again."

He shook hands with Annabeth, looking oh so formal.

Before he could make it anymore awkward, Ron flooed back to the castle. Hermione followed suit and Annabeth squeezed Percy's hand.

"Coming to camp? Or are you staying back to check with your mom?"

"I'll stay back. Sorry… just have to make sure –"

"It's okay." Annabeth nodded and stepped forwards to kiss him. She fist bumped Harry as she turned to leave.

When the flames died down, Percy gave a groan and fell onto the couch, burying his face in his palms.

"I think it went well." Harry said, bracing himself for the impending explosion.

"You think it went well? Good. Someone has to feel that."

Harry sighed. "Is this about the drinks?"

Percy glared up at him. "What gave it away?"

"A lot of parties have drinks, Percy."

"A lot of parties don't have potentially explosive people. Why doesn't anyone understand that!? I just wanted a nice, clean evening!"

Harry rubbed his eyes. He could feel exhaustion seep into his bones. If he could go back to his dorm, he might be able to get a few hours of sleep before his session with Mantis tomo… today.

But he also knew he had to deal with this now.

Harry sat beside Percy, trying to calm himself. "Look. Nothing happened. Yeah, people got drunk. But we're fine. Nobody did any damage. Everyone had fun."

Percy swallowed, shaking his head. "It's not just… how do you know everyone had fun. Most people here tonight were underage. They're teenagers. We're teenagers! We should be drinking!"

"That's actually a very subjective law. There are countries where the age for drinking is lower than you would think."

"You mean, countries where general winter temperatures are close to zero, so kids have a little wine before heading off for school? Yeah, I know stuff, Harry. I also know, that nearly ninety percent of our alcoholics were stone drunk for no reason except that they wanted to try it, and had too much!"

Harry frowned. "Everyone had enough of the potion to keep their heads –"

"Wow, okay. So, nobody has to face consequences. Cool!"

"You said it yourself, Percy! This night is for people to have some fun and relax. We're all heading for tough times. I think you can excuse them for trying to unwind!"

Percy exhaled, before yelling, " _I was lying!_ What? Did you want me to tell them 'Hey! We're all probably gonna die next year, so try to mingle and get to know each other so you won't kill us'?"

Harry clenched his fists before relaxing them. "They know it's getting dangerous. It's not going to be the end of the world if we take a breather for one night."

Percy finally looked at him, right in the eye, face turning cold. "Just because we're with all our friends and in our house, does not mean that we're safe! I'm glad you had a lot of fun tonight, seeing as you spent most of the time making out with someone. I spent most of the night worrying about everything that was happening. There were people trying to break into our rooms, Ginny and Rachel went up to the terrace! Connor and Colin were throwing empty cups at the wards. Were they trying to break it or what? I was running around trying to control everyone, you weren't even there for most of it!"

Even as Harry was watching him, the air around Percy shimmered. His eyes seemed to flash red, his hands strained till the veins popped, and Harry stood up, stepping away, shocked. The air went cold and the hair on Harry's arms prickled against the goosebumps.

Percy got to his feet slowly. "Can you tell me that everyone had fun? The kids who were drunk, how clear headed could they have been to really understand what they were doing? This was not a party, Harry. This was meant to be a time for people to get to know each other. It was meant to be a night that witches and wizards would see the rest of us as people and not monsters that they might have to fight. It was not meant for a night to get drunk and have fun. Sixty four people, nearly everyone capable of a lot of dangerous things, in one place. No one was supposed get into a freakin' chugging contest!"

Harry planted his feet to the floor. He felt angry and refused to back down from Percy's sudden temper.

"First of all, there were _sixty five_ people in the house. Second, we didn't bring any alcohol here. Mr. D did. There's no point in getting mad at them. Nothing bad happened. And third, not everyone acts like Gabe _when he got drunk!"_

Percy froze, his entire body shuddering to a halt. His eyes popped open and Harry immediately knew he'd crossed a line.

It had always been a silent agreement to never bring up Gabe in the Jackson household. Harry, Sirius, Remus, DJ, and Nico learned this after Sally had nearly snapped at them months ago for a comment that had cropped up. Harry knew exactly what kind of person Smelly Gabe had been.

Percy wasn't breathing. He was standing there, staring at Harry, completely motionless. Before Harry could panic, Percy pressed his lips together, unclenching his jaw.

"Sixty four."

Harry flinched, nearly expecting him to shout, but Percy's voice was low.

"W…what?"

"There were sixty four people in the house."

Percy stared, ready for a fight it seemed. Harry noticed his fingers twitching as though to withdraw Riptide.

"Sixty five." Harry whispered.

The boys simply looked at each other in silence till Percy reached into his pocket. Harry held in another wince, but pressed his palm against his jeans to feel his wand.

He didn't know why, but he felt on high alert, as though he could be attacked at any time. Something felt wrong.

Something was wrong with Percy.

Percy took out a slip of paper that held the names of everyone who'd been to the party. He looked at them, eyebrows coming together in a frown.

"I know how to count." He said in a clipped tone. "Sixty three plus Rachel."

He extended the list to Harry, who took it and read every name, mentally ticking them off in his head.

35 Hogwarts students, 28 campers, and 1 mortal.

Harry frowned. "You missed Sky."

Percy didn't even blink. "Who's Sky?"

The silence that descended over them was nearly painful. Harry stared. Was Sky that new to camp that Percy hadn't even known he was coming?

"I guess you haven't been to camp enough, recently." Harry retorted. "Sky's new. Undetermined."

"But who is he? I didn't see anyone I didn't recognize."

"You knew everyone else here?"

"I know all the demigods." Percy snapped. "I don't know Sky."

Harry flared his nostrils. It felt like Percy was acting dumb. Percy was far from stupid, he knew that.

"The bloke, you very eloquently said, who was making out with me for most of the night. Point to note, we were in the kitchen for only two hours."

Percy finally frowned, looking genuinely confused. "I thought he was a wizard."

"Why?"

" 'Cause I didn't recognize him."

Harry felt his heart beat faster, nervous as hell. "He's… new. He's a camper…"

"He's not on the list."

"You must have miscounted –"

"Annabeth made the list."

Harry fell silent. A slow realisation crept upon him. Sky wasn't from camp.

Suddenly, balance felt like a big problem for him. Harry watched as his vision blurred. One moment, Percy was staring at him, restrained anger swimming in his eyes. In the next, Percy was rushing forwards to grab his arms as he tilted to the side.

There was a gasp, feet running towards him. Harry felt the cold marble floor beneath his fingers. He was sitting on the ground.

"Where did you come from?!" Percy was yelling from a distance.

"I left my boots on the terrace, I just went to get them!" A familiar voice snapped back.

"Were you eavesdropping?"

"…No."

"Liar. Go home."

"What happened to him?"

"Get off me." Harry mumbled, trying to push Percy's arms away. He pressed the base of his palms into his eyes, trying to steady his ferocious pulse.

"I need to go to camp. Find out who this Sky is." Percy was saying. "Harry, are you with me?"

"Don't touch him, he doesn't like it." Rachel said.

Hands left him alone and Harry relaxed. He tried to focus on his breathing again. Remembering something Anthony had told him, he touched the marble floor again, trying to centre his attention on the cold tile. It helped to an extent.

" –know what he looked like?" Rachel was saying. It took him a moment to respond.

"… feet."

"Huh?"

"He had… feet…"

"How many?"

"…two…"

"Good." Percy said. "We're looking for a person with two feet. That's a start."

"You're not helping!" Rachel snarled. Percy sat up, glaring right back.

"I'm sorry. It's not easy to keep cool when you realise that a stranger broke into a highly secure house! What was all that preparation for, huh? All the wards, the spells, all those enchantments. We stole from the Order to set this up!"

"Bloated veins!" Harry gasped. His eyes flew open and he could see Percy and Rachel clearly, kneeling in front of him. "His feet were swollen because of a curse. His veins were bloated!"

Percy looked taken aback. "You saw that?"

Harry groaned. "Not bare, but they were huge."

"A guy with two cursed feet." Rachel tried to sound encouraging. "Now we're getting somewhere. There can't be too many demigods out there with cursed feet."

Percy was still unconvinced. "What did he look like?"

Harry opened his mouth to give a description, when his voice failed again. He tried to bring up a mental picture of Sky. He'd been with him for hours, it shouldn't be difficult…

Except it was. Harry screwed up his face as though that would help.

He had no clue what Sky looked like.

No. his couldn't be happening. He… Sky lied…

He didn't. He didn't lie to him. Harry would have been able to tell. Sky had been sincere about everything except his identity.

His eyes changed colours. Harry remembered thinking that. His hair was … dark. Curled, probably. But the only thing he could really recall was that Sky's hair was soft, his lips, his close cut nails because the way he'd gripped his thigh… uh…

Harry opened his eyes and stared at Percy. "I think he was wearing a glamour."

Rachel jerked her head. "Like mine?"

She touched the pendant she wore. It still protected her physical features. Her straight hair was pulled over her left shoulder as though she was trying everything she could to hide from Percy.

"I… hadn't noticed Sky's feet until he'd pointed it out to me. And once I saw them, I couldn't look away for a good while. It's not something anyone would pass it off. The fact that no one noticed him, it means that he was in disguise."

Percy sat back, rubbing his face. "So, we don't know what he looks like. We don't know anything about him –"

"No! No, I know him. His name really is Sky. He has two mothers who'd adopted him when he was a kid. He loves them a lot. Talks about them all the time. He's never met his father, who's a god. He likes swimming. He hates the smell of hair dye… um, his mum has a green coat that she wears almost every day. They actually know about gods and witches and wizards…"

His explanation didn't appeal to Percy at all.

"You want me to go look for a demigod named Sky, who has two moms, and two cursed feet." The scepticism in Percy's voice made Harry glare at him.

"Fine! You don't have to do anything! I'll find him!"

"Can you? When are you gonna find the time? Are you gonna skip classes to search the entire country? What's your plan, Harry? Did it ever occur to you that may be Sky was lying, and he was from the Titan army? That he came here to see what was happening, to see what witches and wizards really are, or …"

Percy groaned again. "Gods! This is bad!"

"Did he give a lot of detail about his parents?" Rachel asked, suddenly.

"Yes."

"And you're sure he was telling the truth?"

"Absolutely."

Percy looked away, glaring at the floor. Harry ignored him. He wanted to go and scream at nothing in particular.

"Well. If his mom's real, then she has good taste. That green coat is this year's most popular unisex clothing hit."

Harry and Percy squinted at her. "Eh?"

Rachel looked a little irritated. "At the risk of sounding like DJ –"

"Too late." Percy muttered.

" – Alpha Green is a shade of blazers and coats that blew up this year. Everyone who's anyone's been buying it. I've seen a lot of investors wear it, my dad's assistant has one, my aunt has one, the guy who owns the digital corp –"

"Okay, we get it!" Percy said, losing his patience again. "Billionaires and billionaire-wanna-be's have sheep mentality towards fashion. Do you really think _Sky's_ mom would follow that line?"

Harry swallowed, feeling thirsty. He was already thinking ahead. "Is it possible to find out everyone who's bought that coat?"

"Wait, you really think it's the same coat?" Percy interrupted. "There could be a bajillion green coats! It could be raincoat for all we know!"

"You have a better idea?" Harry asked.

"Yeah! Let's go search for people with two cursed feet! That will work better, trust me!"

"I don't see you offering ideas!" Rachel huffed.

"I… argh! Fine! Both of you, go home! I'm going back to camp! I'll see what I can do! And remember –"

Percy grabbed both their arms. Harry winced, because Percy had moved too fast, he had seemed like a blur. Rachel gasped as well.

"Not a word of this to anyone." He hissed, eyes burning. The air went cold again. Harry felt the prickling begin again. "Got it?"

Rachel's breathing went shallow. She tried to tug her arm away from him, but Percy only tightened his hold. "Got. It?"

"Yes!" Harry said, hitting Percy's knuckles to free himself. Percy let them go, standing up in a fluid move and heading for the hearth. He disappeared in green flames and Rachel exhaled.

Harry fell back, leaning against one arm. It took him a moment to realise that he was shaking. For one disturbing second, he'd been frightened of Percy. It was such a new and weird feeling that Harry had to take a while to find his bearing.

"Something's wrong with him." Rachel whispered. "And it's not just Grover or the Titans."

Harry swallowed again, wishing they had some left over water, but the party had cleared it out. He was extremely thirsty.

"You sure?"

Rachel was still staring at the hearth, which was no dirty with soot. Harry would have to clean it before he left.

"Red isn't Percy's colour." She mumbled.

* * *

 _Friday, Nov. 16, 10:30 p.m.  
Camp Half-Blood, Long Island_

 _Saturday, Nov. 17, 3:40 a.m.  
Hogwarts, Scotland_

Percy reached the Big House, holding his breath as he stepped out. The moment the flames died down, he turned the handle by the side of the elaborate fire place, effectively shutting down the floo grate. Nobody else would be able to floo in from Frost.

Annabeth, Thalia, and Clarisse were on the porch, talking about important stuff. At least, that was what Percy had hoped. He heard them chuckling about the 'Double Round Winner' in one of the drinking games.

"I haven't seen Silena so tanked since Beckendorf had announced he's planning to go to college, next Fall." Clarisse said.

"She'll want a rematch soon." Annabeth hummed. Percy stood at the entrance and waited for a couple of seconds for the girls to catch him staring.

"Hey, Perce." Thalia greeted him. Her smile faded when she caught the serious look on his face. Percy was too tired to pretend to be cheerful, so he just shrugged.

"Hey. Aren't you crashing here?"

"For a couple of days, yeah. We were talking about tomorrow's meeting. Atlanta's clear for now, but…"

Thalia kept talking, but all Percy could think of was their harmless little joke, about the stranger who'd crashed into the party and how nobody had known, about Tom who was standing there, watching the four of them, privy to Percy's thoughts, about the impending break-in in Gringotts of all places, about Grover who was still missing, while they were partying, about the war, about a hundred different things and they were joking about drinking in the midst of all that.

Percy felt like screaming.

"We'll discuss that tomorrow. I'm hitting the sack." Percy said, cutting off whatever Thalia had been saying.

Her eyes widened, shocking blue eyes piercing into his soul as though she could see Tom there. Her mouth tightened.

"Fine. Good night."

"Night." He walked past them, without another word. He couldn't deal with this. He needed to –

He heard footsteps behind him.

"Tomorrow, Annabeth." He said. He didn't need to look back to see who it was. The footsteps didn't stop, though. They bypassed the amphitheatre and walked into the cabin grounds. Everything was dark and silent, most of the teens already in bed. Percy walked up to his cabin, which stood cold and unwelcoming.

The footsteps were still there. He gritted his teeth and swung around, ready to tell her off, but stopped short.

Tom was looking at him. He smiled. "Surprise."

Percy stared at him, gobsmacked. "How…"

He turned to look towards the Big House. Annabeth hadn't followed him. It was Tom. But…

Percy looked at Tom's shoes. Regular formal wear, not unlike Hogwarts uniform regulation. Tom's shoes had made noise.

Almost like he was real.

Tom grinned in real amusement. "A couple of weeks, I give it. We part ways then, Percy Jackson."

Tom was real.

Percy felt like he couldn't breathe. He was looking right at him. The others couldn't see him. But Tom had finally made regular human noise. Percy felt his bones ache with a kind of pain that he really shouldn't have been able to feel.

He needed his inhaler. But there was an ocean near him. Why bother with chemicals when…

Percy walked around the cabin, heading for the beach. His breaths were unbalanced, and it hitched every time he inhaled. It sounded like he was about to cry. Percy clenched his fists and ran towards the ocean, trying to convince himself that he wasn't sobbing and struggling for breath.

Percy ran right into the water, dunking under the surface. The cold waves hit his body, offering relief. He took in a proper breath, feeling safer than he'd felt in a long while.

It was temporary. One second he was swimming further into the ocean, the next, a strong wave surged forwards and pushed him back, right onto shore.

He gasped, sitting up and staring at the ocean. What…

Percy stood up slowly. He felt the water and sand on him; he was soaked like a regular person. The ocean looked normal. He walked towards it slowly, shoes coming right up to the edge of a wave.

The water pushed itself back, careful to not touch him. Percy took another step and then another.

The water kept receding. The ocean was pulling back, creating a space of air in a large semicircle. Percy stood there, gaping in horror.

"What?" He cried. "What're you doing?"

He rushed forwards again, trying to touch the sea, but it attacked, pushing him back. He fell on the wet sand, spluttering. "Why are you not… dad?!"

Nobody answered him. Out of desperation, Percy dug out a bunch of drachmas he'd managed to stuff into his pockets before the party. Under the light of the moon, Percy focused on the beams, trying to shake the Mist into turning it into a rainbow. It worked. A shaky ray of colourful light spread over his arms. Percy tossed a coin into the light and said, "Lady Iris, Goddess of Rainbows! Please accept my offering and show me Tyson, son of Poseidon."

The drachma, which had disappeared in the light, rematerialized and fell down beside Percy's feet.

He stared at it blankly. No, no.

He tried calling Tyson again, then tried Poseidon. Neither answered.

He called Grover. Then he tried Tyson again. He called Triton, for some reason. He tried Amphitrite. He tried his dad again.

The drachmas kept falling onto the sand and he lost control over the Mist. The rainbow disappeared. Percy clutched his hair, pulling hard. " _What's happening?!"_

May be he was imagining it. But it felt like he was cut off. He felt trapped in his own head. Nobody was responding to him. His dad was silent. Grover was gone. Tom was not even on the list of people he wanted to hear.

Percy got up, running towards the ocean. He was pushed back again for his efforts.

"No!" He said. "No, no, no!" He ran again and again and again, till he collapsed on the beach, shivering in the cold and crying against the sand.

* * *

 _Saturday, Nov. 17, 6:40 a.m.  
Hogwarts, Scotland_

It's not that Harry couldn't sleep…

Well, he couldn't.

But, that wasn't his fault. He'd just found out that the guy he liked turned out to be a complete stranger who may or may not have conned him.

That and Percy's behaviour had thoroughly freaked him out.

Harry had laid in bed until he was sure that sleep couldn't come to him. He listened to the snores of his four dorm mates, partially glad they could rest, partially jealous of them.

He stayed there, throwing his pillow on the floor, shifting poses, burrowing under his blanket, getting rid of it, eventually making the Mimbulus Mimbletonia plant on Neville's bed side stand shudder in annoyance.

Its many boils quivered ominously and Harry froze, making sure the plant sensed a lack of a threat. It stayed quiet after a bit and Harry breathed. One of these days they were going to wake up in stink sap because of the snoring.

Harry got out of bed, heading to start the day. Either way, Sirius would be coming along to pick him up soon. Mantis would get a kick out of today's sleepless excuse.

 _Yeah, hi Healer Mantis. I threw an illegal party miles away from the castle, snogged a guy who might have been the enemy that's out to kill my brother, who scares me now._

He was about to leave the dorm when there was a knock at his window. He turned around, half way into slipping on his jumper.

Hedwig was waiting outside, a letter tied to her leg. Harry's heart settled at the sight of her. He tip toed to the window and opened it, letting her in. She nipped at his finger, a little harder than usual, as he untied the tags.

"I'm sorry, girl." He whispered. "I know we haven't talked recently. Come on, let's get an early breakfast."

She settled on his shoulder without a fuss. He tore open the envelope, reading Sirius' hurried handwriting.

 _Harry,_

 _Something's come up. No session today. Stay at the castle._

 _Please._

 _Sirius._

Harry blinked, slowing down. Well, great. Now what?

He looked up at Hedwig. She blinked at him.

"You didn't go to London, did you?"

She gave a low hoot. He took it as a confirmation.

Which meant Sirius was at the castle. He'd gone to the Owlery to write the quick message for her to take to Harry when he'd wake up.

He could have called him over the mirror…

Harry frowned. "Where's Sirius, Hedwig? He's here?"

Her answering hoot was higher this time.

Something had come up. Harry couldn't hold back his frown.

A couple of hours later, Hermione ambled down from the Gryffindor Tower. She kept yawning as she took a seat beside Harry. The Great Hall wasn't too crowded, or else people would have watched her slug like motions with great interest.

"Morning." He said.

"Mo- Morning. Aren't you ready?" She asked, blinking. Her hair was in tangles and her clothes were quite rumpled. She was probably slightly hung over. Harry had a feeling that was something she'd never get used to even if she drank every day.

"Not going today. Sirius is busy."

She blinked again, eyes growing wide at a parchment in front of Harry. "Oh! You've finished the Potions homework!"

"Had two hours to kill. Plus, Hedwig was insistent."

Harry looked over to the owl who was perched on the table. The owl had been sipping from his goblet of orange juice. She looked up at the mention of her name, ruffling her feather importantly. He smirked.

Hermione rubbed her eyes. "Oh gods… Merlin… god!"

Harry sat up, huffing. "One night and you've converted. Really, Hermione Granger!"

"You seem chipper."

His mood deflated immediately. "Urgh. Please don't. I'm anything but."

"Why? What happened?"

"A lot… well, I think Sirius is here at the castle. It must be important. He hasn't told me he's here."

She pulled a dish of porridge towards her to serve onto her bowl. Half way through her breakfast, Ron approached them, looking even rattier than her. He plopped down opposite Harry and Hermione, automatically reaching for Harry's homework.

"No. Get your own." Harry snatched the roll out of his long arms.

Ron gave a groan. "Com'n, Harry. 'M tired."

"Had a lot of fun, huh?" Harry smirked.

"Hmm. What's the plan for today?"

"Nothing." Hermione mumbled. Her face was far too close to her bowl as she ate in slow movements. "Absolutely nothing's on today's agenda. We're going right back to sleep after breakfast."

"I love Saturdays." Ron said, fervently.

"You guys are no fun hung over." Harry complained. "At least, tell me you got together."

Hermione and Ron looked up at him confused. "What?"

The air of cluelessness made Harry share a wry look with Hedwig.

"Nothing." He sighed. "I'm… ahem, Ron. I'm going flying today. Could you come with me?"

Ron froze in the middle of adding two halves of a boiled egg to his plate. Hermione looked up, finally seeming fully awake.

"You… wanna fly?"

"Yeah. Just… not alone."

"Yeah!" Ron said, invigorated. "Sure, buddy. Anything you need. Do you wanna play Quiddit –"

"No. Just… a bit of flying. That's enough. You won't mind, Hermione?"

"Not at all!" She replied, breathless. "I'll be at the stands. I need to start on my Arithmancy paper."

"We'll have to go before eleven. The Slytherin team will start practice then." Ron warned him.

"No problem." Harry nodded, looking over the Slytherin table. He knew for a fact that the Gryffindor team was supposed to have practice early in the morning, but Angelina had postponed it when the team had unanimously opted to sleep until eight. Seeing as how Malfoy was the only Slytherin member who had been at the party, their practice would commence at the regular time.

Harry turned to look at the professors' table. The large table that sat perpendicular to the four hours tables, was currently empty. It had been unsettling at first.

"The teachers aren't here." Hermione said in surprise when she saw where Harry had been staring.

"It's nearly nine." Ron pointed out. "They eat fast."

Hermione looked at Harry, worried. He knew exactly what she was thinking.

"Probably." He said.

"Probably what?" Ron asked.

"Sirius is at the castle. He said something's up. Might have something to do with them not being here." Harry nodded towards the table.

Ron nearly dropped his fork. "What?! But… what if they… know? What if they know what we did last night?"

"They can't." Hermione said, half convincing herself. "If they did, they'd be talking to us right now. We made sure everything was covered. Snape was gone for both days and we had lookouts the entire time. We set up the wards perfectly. Nobody knew we were there. Everyone who went came back. I counted three times. We're fine."

Harry wondered if he wanted to burst her bubble by talking about Sky. He recalled Percy's warning and looked back at his parchment. His essay on Moonstone was still short by three inches. The best thing would be to keep his head down for the time being.

But he could never do that.

"Hermione… say, there was a way to bypass the ward we'd set up…?"

Her frown made him wince. "Bypass…? Are you talking about… when the map was stolen?"

The Marauder's Map. Harry sat up straight. Shit! Someone had broken into Hogwarts and stolen the map! Someone who could cross the ward. If Sky wasn't from camp, he could have used some strange power to walk through the enchantment and enter the house.

But… why? He hadn't caused any trouble… that they knew of.

"Most obvious way of bypassing a ward is to get underneath it. But yeah, that's a really specific question. Did something happen?" Ron asked.

"Wait, what did you say?"

Ron stared. "Uh… we used holders to plant the ward around the property… if someone could dig a tunnel under it, they could get in. But we have Hermione here who can sense earth moving events so…"

He shrugged. Harry's brain stuttered to a stop.

Underneath.

There was a crack in the ground outside Frost.

Hermione frowned. "There was that mark… in the earth…"

Ron shook his head. "But you said you didn't feel anything!"

"I… was drunk!" She whisper yelled. "And I slept for an hour, remember?"

But Sky had arrived before Hermione had gotten drunk. So either he was very good with the earth, or he really could walk through wards.

Harry remembered his experience in Rome. He'd been kept prisoner in an abandoned building that was under a ward protection. Yet, he'd been able to escape by sneaking through the sewers.

Wards were woefully inept, now that he thought about it.

"Besides, nothing happened! We were safe. It's good!" Hermione said.

Ron still looked unsure and Harry tried to get back to his homework. He'd have to talk to Percy later. After the flying. Or before.

Someone ran in from the entrance. Harry raised his head and spotted Alex Sykes rush in. She crossed the hall through the middle, not heading towards the Ravenclaw table, but walking towards the dias.

She pointed her wand at her throat and her voice was magnified to a good degree.

"Attention, everyone!" She called out. All the students stopped chatting and/or eating to turn towards her. Harry noticed that she looked exhausted, but also steely. Something was definitely up.

"We're having another ward inspection this afternoon. Nobody is allowed to leave the castle doors today."

Everyone started whispering immediately. Ron turned to look at Harry and Hermione, wide eyed.

Alex continued, "If you need to leave due to an emergency, please report to either Marcus Turner or me. All prefects will have a meeting at eleven O'clock today. We're changing some security measures, so there's no need to panic. Your Heads of the House will be occupied until noon. Marcus and I will be available for enquiry throughout the day. Thank you!"

The hall burst into chatter. Alex was practically ambushed by the Slytherin Quidditch Captain and Harry could hear her say, "Practice is cancelled!"

"This is either really good or really bad." Ron said. "I mean, they might actually be reinforcing the protections, but also …"

"Something might have happened." Hermione agreed.

"It's got nothing to do with the party." Harry said, trying to calm down. He couldn't stop his fingers from shaking, though. "We're in the clear, I'm sure."

He felt less sure when Alex walked straight to the trio and said, "McGonagall wants to meet you in the Headmaster's office with some beans."

Hermione sat up, electrified. "What?"

"Now. It's urgent."

"Wait?" Ron sad slowly. "All three of us?"

"Yes! Now! Up!"

Harry shoved his homework into his bag, slinging it over his shoulder. Hermione and Ron rose, nervous.

Alex didn't walk them to the office. But she gave them a tight smile for luck.

"We're done for." Ron whispered as they took the last set of moving stairs.

"It's not about that." Harry said. He wasn't even sure if he was telling the truth.

"We covered all exits." Hermione said. "I'm sure it's something else. I mean, they would have called DJ too, right? If they thought we did something?"

"Right! Yeah. He's still asleep, I think."

"Okay." Ron tried to relax. "Alright. It can't be so bad then."

Harry told the stone gargoyle outside Dumbledore's office, "Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans."

The statue jumped to the side and they climbed on the steps.

"It's gonna be fine." Harry muttered. "It's nothing pressing. Dumbledore probably wanted to talk to all of us about Voldemort. I mean… I haven't had a session with him in a while…"

"Right, right. No big deal." Ron laughed nervously. Hermione made a squeak, unable to say anything. She was quite pale as well.

Harry knocked on the door, trying to calm himself. He wished Hedwig had come with him, but she'd flown back to the Owlery.

"Come in." Dumbledore called.

Harry tried to smile at them, "It's fine. Don't worry."

He opened the door.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione gaped at the crowd of what must have been at least twenty people standing in the office. Harry recognized all the teachers, a few Aurors, a few from the Order, and even the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge. They were all serious, scrutinising the teenagers as though the answers were written on their stunned faces.

Dumbledore was standing behind his desk, unusually quiet. Tonks was there too. Her hair was pitch black, her expression sombre.

Sirius, who had been standing by the side, stepped to the centre. He had an unreadable face. He conjured up three chairs. "Come in. We need to talk to you."

* * *

 **Well, would you look at that! Stay tuned, folks!**

 **Q: No question for now. But tell me your guesses to who's gonna die? Bianca knows!**

 **Cabba.**


	46. Sweet Dreams

**Sherlock Harry Winchester: Glad you think so! If the last chapter was exciting, you're gonna like this one.**

 **Catie Cat: You'll like the end to this story. I hope to finish it within five/six chapters. Percy's definitely going to be affected by Tom's influence for a long time. Remember that scene in House of Hades, where we got a glimpse of an-almost-evil-Percy…? He's still vegetarian. But he might make an exception for junk food after what he's been through.**

 **You guys are amazing, thanks so much! I love reading how you've felt about every chapter!**

 **A: Well, you'll find out soon enough. Hee hee.**

 **Warning: Character death**

 **Listening: Monster by Imagine Dragons**

* * *

 _Saturday, Nov. 17, 3:00 a.m.  
Camp Half-Blood, Long Island_

Nico woke up when Bianca shook him. His drowsiness didn't help until she hissed, "Nico! Shush! Follow me!"

He blinked a few times and rubbed his eyes. Looking around, he found himself in the Hermes cabin, surrounded by at least a dozen campers, of Hermes, Undetermined, or of minor gods and goddesses. They were still asleep, blissfully unaware of Nico's unfortunate lack of sleep.

"Wha?" Nico yawned.

"Not here." Bianca said. She looked alert and ready for a fight in her pajamas. Nico exhaled and ambled out of his sleeping bag, following her outside the cabin.

Annabeth, Clarisse, Thalia, Will, Silena, and Chiron stood in the clearing of the cabin grounds. All of them looked like they'd been dragged from their beds as well.

"Wha's goon on?" Nico yawned.

They turned to look at him and it struck Nico that they silence of the dark morning had nothing to do with the lack of conversation. It felt like there was a cold sadness, creeping into his skin and touching his bare bones.

"Atlantis was attacked last night." Chiron said, voice so low, he might have been whispering to himself. "We've lost all communication with them. Lady Iris informed Olympus everything she knew."

Nico felt the next breath much harder to inhale. Camp grew colder as Chiron had said the words aloud.

"We think Triton may be mortally wounded. Poseidon has closed all avenues to the kingdom. No one can go in or out." Thalia said, arms folded, blue eyes practically glowing in the light of the large moon.

"Nico." Annabeth sounded strained. Nico wanted to back down at the way she looked at him.

"Have you seen Percy?"

Nico did a double take. "What? Per – no. I haven't… not since the…"

He shot a quick look at Chiron. "The party?"

"Jackson's gone." Clarisse said.

"Gone where?"

"We don't know. He left a sticky note on the door which said he'd come back in a week's time. His bunk hasn't been slept in, his backpack is missing –"

"But he didn't say?" Nico burst, heart thudding. "What if he went to the kingdom? What if Poseidon called him?"

"The gates closed last evening, Nico." Annabeth replied. "I don't know if Poseidon would have let Percy anywhere near there. It's a battle zone."

"Then where would he go?"

The others exchanged quick glances. Nico exhaled, realizing the gravity of the situation.

"You… you don't know where he went?"

Will winced. "We were hoping you'd know…? Like, have you had dreams, or –"

"Percy's the one who gets weird dreams!" Nico snapped. "Or Clovis! Let's wake him up! Or we can ask the oracle! Or…" He nearly jumped. "Or Rachel! She'd know!"

Clarisse frowned. "Who?"

"Whadya mean who? Rachel! Harry's sister? You know, she goes to school with Percy! She was at the party with us."

Annabeth sighed. "The double round winner, Reese. I don't know if she'd know about this, Nico. But the oracle's our best bet, I'd say."

Chiron nodded. "Then, you will seek her counsel first thing in the morning. It's highly possible that Percy has gone to scour the East Coast again."

"My bet is Atlanta." Bianca said aloud. Thalia gave a sharp nod.

"We're waiting till morning?" Nico asked, dismayed.

"Everyone's tired, Nico. So are you." Chiron pointed out. "If we need to find Percy, I'd like you to work on as much sleep as you can get. I know Percy's powerful, but with everything that's happening, camp may be the safest place for him."

"Then we should go now!"

"I'm going to Atlanta tomorrow." Annabeth spoke up. Her steel grey eyes made sure no one interrupted her. "You can join me, Nico."

"Yeah!"

"Then we'll stay back." Thalia decided, looking over at Bianca. "It's would be a good idea for a bunch of the Big Three kids wandering around… besides, Nico, you can take Lee Lee."

Nico smirked. "Awesome."

* * *

 _Saturday, Nov. 17, 9:00 a.m.  
Knockturn Alley, London_

Percy was bundled in wizard robes, crouched in the shadows of one of the many alcoves that were present in Knockturn Alley. The long, winding stone path of the dingy street had few stragglers. One of them, a tall, lanky man with dirty brown hair and faded blue robes, walked up the path, shivering in the steep wind. The clouds were strong and so was the wind.

Tom didn't take his eyes off the man, "He has a jacket underneath."

Percy gave a stiff nod. As the man passed them, Percy stepped out silently, and walked behind him, following at a leisure pace.

It wasn't like they were about to do something _bad_ … Percy needed to be rid of Tom. Tom wouldn't leave till he had all his treasures. One of his treasures was in a Gringotts vault, the most secure facility in the world.

Their plan to break into Gringotts, Tom had promised, would take up to a week. After that, Percy could go back to camp and forget everything about the strange spirit and his obsession with jewellery and shiny objects. He was like a magpie. A magical, soul sucking magpie.

"Pleasant." Tom snorted.

Percy focused on the man in front of them. There was nothing especially extraordinary about Stan Shunpike, but he did have the register of the Knight Bus' schedule for the month. And they needed timetable.

He didn't know what the entirety of Tom's plan was, but that didn't matter. He just needed to be free. Percy shuddered painfully. He blamed it on the wind.

Stan kept walking till he reached a rundown pub. Percy took longer footsteps, reached him as he was on the first step, and grabbed his elbow. A red glow emerged from Tom's hands, it turned into a beam of light, hitting Stan square in the chest. The conductor stumbled into Percy's arms.

He dragged him across the narrow, empty street and into a crevice in the wall. Stan's prone body was lowered and Percy searched through the pockets of his jacket, finally feeling the raggedy book with the lists of the timetable.

Percy looked it over. It didn't seem to have any remarkable information. None of the stops mentioned Gringotts, funnily enough.

Tom rolled his eyes and snatched the book, going through the pages. Percy watched the curious look on his face and felt suspicious. He reached for his chest to touch the locket.

May be it was because Tom had been focusing on the book. Or it must have been the ring, the diadem and the damaged diary that lay in a moleskin pouch in Percy's pocket. Or it may have been Percy's own strength in finding out what Tom was thinking in that exact moment.

The entire plan flashed in Percy's mind. When he saw the extent of it, when he realized what Tom planned to do, he gasped, scrambling to his feet and backing away from a frozen Tom Riddle.

"You…" Percy tried to breathe. "How… you made a vow – "

"I did." Tom said, trying to placate him. "I promised, I wouldn't kill anyone –"

"Then what –"

"We need a distraction, Percy. Nothing terrifies this country as Harry's life –"

"What makes you think I'm going to let you anywhere near Harry?" Percy hissed. He touched his pocket where Riptide lay, feeling the wild urge to stab Tom again.

He looked back, blue eyes calm as an impending storm. "Harry can't die."

Percy's breath hitched. He kept eye contact. There was no way Tom could talk his way out of this one. Percy would never let –

"Listen to me." Tom said, stepping forward. "He's died at least twice, as far as we know. He's come back from death, Percy! That's incredible, you know it!"

"No."

"Anything that happens to him can be fixed."

"No."

"It won't be permanent."

"I. Said. No."

Tom's eyes burned red. The locket was hot, but Percy was angrier than him. He felt the boiling urge to rip something. He swiped out Riptide, clicking it and holding the tip of the blade up to Tom's neck.

"That won't work." Tom whispered.

"I can wait." Percy retaliated. "We're done. I'm not doing this anymore. I have far bigger problems than your stupid little quest for immortality. Nobody cares, Tom. Nobody cares about you. And you can't keep to your own word. You can take your jewellery and flush yourself down the toilet for all I care. But we're through."

Percy reached up and grabbed the chain of the locket.

It felt like an explosion. Red light, not the stunning spell, but something more visceral and raw, ravaged his entire being. The heat seared the hair on his arms. Percy tried to scream, but he could hear nothing except for the ringing in his ears. The light had blinded him and he shut his eyes against the imprint of flash.

And he fell.

* * *

 _Saturday, Nov. 17, 6:40 a.m.  
Hogwarts, Scotland_

"Do you know why you're here, Harry?" Cornelius Fudge asked. Harry thought he was trying to look friendly. He was failing.

"No."

"It's alright, son. You and your little friends have nothing to hide from us."

His voice irked Harry. There was a hint of condescension coupled with impatience. Harry sat to Hermione's left, while Ron sat on her other side. All three were silent, looking up at all the authority figures examining them. It was nerve wracking.

"We're not… hiding anything."

One of the Aurors, Dawlish, gave a silent snort. Harry couldn't help shoot a glance at Ron and Hermione. Their nervous expressions made him feel distraught.

"Mr. Potter is naturally inclined to stall any interrogation…" Snape said, standing behind McGonagall. He was near the book shelves by the corner. Before Harry could even shoot a glare at him, Sirius spoke up, "And clearly, your inclination is to speak when you're supposed to shut up and listen."

Snape sneered at him. "Your ward is under scrutiny once again, I do not know how you can defend – "

"Severus, Sirius! Please!" Fudge shushed them. "You're scaring the children!"

"Why are we here?" Ron burst out. "Why are you all here?"

Umbridge stepped forwards and Ron leaned back as though she were contagious. Her small pink hat sat askew on her hair. Harry had never noticed, but this hat had a grotesque butterfly pinned to it. He hoped it was cloth, or even plastic.

"We are curious…" The woman began, her voice taking a sugary undertone that made them all wince. "… about yesterday."

Hermione small intake of breath didn't go unnoticed by anyone. Harry groaned silently. They were going to be caught!

Umbridge's gaze narrowed at Hermione, "We would like to know what you did yesterday."

Harry kept his mouth shut. No one else said a word.

After an uncomfortable silence, Dumbledore stepped forwards, walking around his desk. He clasped his hands behind his back and tilted his head towards them.

"We did a lot of things yesterday." Ron mumbled.

"I'm sure you did." Umbridge said, sweetly. "But there must be something that must have… stuck out rather vividly, I'm sure."

A string of swears went through his mind. Harry didn't know where to look at without feeling incriminated. Everyone was gauging them.

"This doesn't have to be so difficult. They obviously know." Dawlish said.

"I would still like to hear from them." Fudge said, trying to stay neutral.

Harry tried to calm himself. Nothing, not even a lame excuse, came to mind.

"Are you talking about the article?" Hermione asked.

Everyone's head snapped towards her. Harry frowned. The only article, he could fathom, that could have made everyone so serious was the one about Bellatrix Lestrange and her death…

"We could talk about that." Umbridge agreed and turned towards Harry. "Well?"

He looked back, blank. "Well what?"

"What did you think about the article, Mr. Potter?"

He let out a long breath, "What article are we talking about?"

Finally, she looked annoyed. "The one published by Rita Skeeter, last weekend. I cannot recall the title…"

Harry's jaw dropped. "What does that have to do with anything?!"

Umbridge stared. In fact, the others looked confused as well.

"Harry." Dumbledore said. His voice nearly reflected his true age and weariness. "This is serious. We have to know where the three of you went, yesterday."

Harry looked at Hermione and Ron, feeling thrown off balance. They looked just as puzzled. Something wasn't adding up.

"Then why where you talking about that article?"

"She brought it up." Dawlish nodded at Hermione.

"But…" Hermione said, eyes darting between the teachers. "I assumed you were referring to the news about Bellatrix Lestrange!"

"Exactly!" Ron crowed. Snape's glare silenced them.

"That's not… stop stalling!" Snape snapped. Sirius levelled a glare at him, but it didn't stop him. "Just tell us what you saw!"

"What?"

"What do you mean 'what'?"

"I have no idea what's going on here!" Hermione cried, gripping the sides of her chair.

McGonagall pinched the bridge of her nose. She said, in a clipped voice, "Ms. Granger, what the Minister and his employees wish to know, is the whereabouts of your little adventure yesterday morning, when you went into the Forbidden Forest."

Harry, Hermione and Ron leaned forwards. Their expressions gave the entire thing away. The adults found genuine confusion in their faces.

"We didn't go into the forest." Ron said, slowly.

Dawlish opened his mouth and then shut it, completely flummoxed. Snape blinked, and even Fudge frowned at the answer. Harry noticed that the others looked at each other for confirmation. Tonks raised her eyes, looking hopeful for some reason. Her hair shifted from black to lime green.

Sirius coughed. "Umm… you didn't go into the forest?"

"No." Hermione said, "Did something happen to the wards again?"

Alex had announced a security check again, but by the looks on their faces… Harry frowned.

"Someone broke in? Again? Did you catch them? Wait, why're you interrogating us?"

"Because we have witnesses who stated they saw you three near the forest line." Dawlish said, glaring.

Harry shot another look at Hermione and Ron, trying to warn them. He'd told them about the sharp pain along the veins of his forearms. He remembered the angry red lines on his raised skin, worried that something in the forest had caught fire. That was on the morning of the party.

Just after Rachel had warned him to not go into the forest.

"We didn't go in. We were near the pumpkin patch." Harry said, trying to recall the exact feeling he'd had then.

"So… what? You just walked there, stared at the trees and came back in?"

"Yes, that's exactly what we did." Ron said, unimpressed. "What's with the twenty questions? What happened in the forest?"

Fudge was so surprised that all he could do was look back at Dumbledore. The Headmaster raised his eyebrows, in amusement. His eyes twinkled.

"You're free to go."

Harry sat up, hardly believing what he'd heard. "We're… but what happened –"

"I'll see them out." Sirius said. He placed a hand on Harry's shoulder, a soft but firm sign that the discussion was done. Harry stood up, shifting away from the hand.

Hermione and Ron followed Sirius, Harry took up the rear, feeling all eyes on them. Something had happened. Rachel had known something would happen, and had stopped Harry from getting involved.

The four were silent as they left the office and waited as the revolving staircase left them by the stone gargoyles.

"Someone broke in again?" Ron asked, immediately.

"No one broke in." Sirius said, taking large steps down the hall. They kept up with him and Harry said, "But what happened –"

Sirius stopped right by the moving staircases. There was hardly a student in sight. Despite the numerous portraits, it felt like nobody was looking at them now.

"It's fine." He said, patiently. "You don't have to worry about it."

"Then why did you call us in for a full-fledged interrogation?" Harry argued. "It must be important! Was it Voldemort or a Death Eater sighting, or –"

"Something happened yesterday night." Sirius said, huffing. "Since you didn't go in the forest, it doesn't concern you."

"But if it happened on the grounds –" Hermione began.

Sirius cut her off quickly, "Nothing happened on the grounds."

"Oh boy, was it the village again?" Ron asked, horrified. "Did someone die?"

Sirius frowned. "Merlin, no! Ron, please calm down. None of you have to worry about it. Just… just go to class."

"It's Saturday."

"Then go be the studious angels I know you to be."

Sirius set off for the Headmaster's office, but Harry didn't slow down. Something big had gone down yesterday night. It must have been bad enough to get on Rachel's radar, even if she wasn't aware what exactly happened. He recalled that she'd screamed at whatever she'd seen. It was definitely something to worry about.

"Sirius! Did you capture someone? Is that it?"

"Harry, please go –"

"You can tell me! Is it Order business? You can tell me about that, it's fine."

"It's not the Order."

"Then what –"

"Harry!" Sirius looked supremely pissed now. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath to calm himself. Harry waited.

"You don't have to know about this."

He gawked at his godfather. This was like the conversation back at Grimmauld Place.

"Why? Because I'm fifteen? I've faced a lot, Sirius. You know that!"

"Yes, I'm well aware of that. But you don't have to face some things because I'm here! Me, your guardian! I decide what's okay for you, alright, Harry?" Sirius looked more worried than angry. "I know you were already out of the castle last night. Nobody can find out about that, and I'm not saying anything against it, because when you have literal _gods_ involved…"

Sirius sighed, forehead wrinkling. Harry pressed his lips together, trying to not yell back.

"Just…for me, Harry. Please, stay out of this. Just this one thing, Harry."

"How bad is it?" Harry whispered.

Sirius shook his head. "Don't worry. I'll handle it."

"You don't have to handle it like that! I can know about some stuff, however horrifying it is."

"I'm just trying to keep you safe, Harry."

"And you're stressed! You're working every day and the strain's showing! Let me in on this! I can keep secrets, I can fight. I can –"

"No!" Sirius shouted. "No, absolutely not. Not as long as I have a say in this, and as your godfather, I have a bloody good say! You're staying out of it."

"You can't keep me out if I can sneak my way in."

"Not if I can help it!"

"I don't _need_ your help!" Harry yelled.

Sirius's next retort stumbled on the way out of his throat. He blinked in surprise. Harry was stunned at his own words.

"I… I mean, I can protect myself. Sirius, you don't have to shield me from everything."

He waited for Sirius to say something like… wow, those are really brave words… or, you sound like James…

What he wasn't prepared for was for Sirius to step closer to him and say in a deadly firm voice, "I will shield you from everything, until the day I physically cannot. Nothing on this planet will convince me otherwise. You and DJ will stay in the castle till the professors announce it's safe. I don't want you leaving Hogwarts for any reason. Not even if the world was on fire. If you think something's wrong in New York, you will tell an Order member, or will call me directly on the mirror. You will not leave the castle till the holidays, do you understand me?"

Harry held his breath through the entire time Sirius had spoken. He'd never had him be so angry with before.

"I asked if you understood me." Sirius was not playing around. His eyes were pleading, as against the steel of his words. Harry sucked in a breath and said, "Yes."

Sirius gave a short nod. He looked past Harry at a nervous Ron and Hermione. "The same goes for the two of you and every other student in the castle. Got it?"

"Got it!" They squeaked.

Sirius focused at Harry again, unsmiling. "I'll call if we can schedule a session with Mantis next week. It's risky, right now."

Harry held in a snap about leaving the castle for therapy. He didn't want to piss of Sirius anymore.

When the man finally turned around and left, Harry took a few steps back, exhaling.

"What do you think must have happened?" Ron asked.

"They won't tell us." Harry said, bitterly.

"One person would." Hermione muttered. They looked at her.

"If you're talking about Tonks –"

Hermione shook her head. "I'm talking about Rachel."

* * *

"You heard that?" Dawlish asked, Kingsley.

The Head Auror stood in the forest, holding up one of the few mirrors Sirius and Remus had enchanted before the latter had left for his mission.

"Loud and clear. If they had been here, they would have had a front row view." Kingsley said, looking through the translucent state of the ward, further out into the forest. The regular silence was disturbed by a horde of humans roaming the forestry both within and outside the ward. Kingsley watched as Zach Belstone approached him with a file in hand.

"All clear. Nothing made it into the grounds. Whoever it was, knew where exactly the wards are. They knew to avoid all the marked spaces."

"No attempt?"

"Nope. They didn't even try to break in. They just came, left her there, and carved the words." Zach looked down at the file. "It's not much… there isn't enough magic on the site for a proper trace."

"Would you say a muggle might have been able to do it?"

Zach's jaw dropped. "No way. There's no way a muggle got in this close. They'd have to cross the village too, and there are protections on Hogsmeade –"

"Rope burns on the tree." Kingsley reminded him. Zach sighed.

"Yeah… It has to be someone who's not sure of the extent of tracing potential."

Kingsley frowned, thinking it over. "It's not the vigilante."

"You sure? 'Cause… Skeeter was no sweetheart."

"Limited knowledge on the vigilante states that they're going after Voldemort and his cohorts. This is different. Whoever did this might have been impersonating them, turning the focus onto Harry, rather than Voldemort."

"A copycat? Great, that's all we needed now."

Kingsley looked up at the ward. "In any case, none of the students saw this. We're keep this closed for now, under the Minister's orders. Head back to the office and meet up with Tonks."

Zach gave a salute and walked towards the castle gates.

On the other side of the ward, Kingsely could see Cedric Diggory talking to Delilah Lancoris. They stood right by the fallen tree.

There were too many signs of muggle intervention. Kingsley feared that gut feeling. His knowledge of muggles always felt lacking every time he hit a roadblock. While he could live in a muggle house sufficiently without magic, it still went without saying that there was a lot he needed to learn about them.

Even so, there had been minimal usage of magic at the crime scene.

Just a couple of hours ago, Madame Rosmerta had spotted an odd shape in the trees, when she'd been clearing the rafters. She'd called the neighbours, and one of them and finally shone a light on the object of mystery. They'd found body hanging from a tree branch by a coarse rope, one end tied to the trunk of a fallen tree.

A body, right outside Hogwarts boundaries. Luckily, the Aurors had known the villagers personally, and it was a secret for now. But Kingsely knew these things had a way of being exposed.

Especially when these situations involved known personalities such as Rita Skeeter.

Kingsley looked up at the tree which had the rope marks. Someone had strangled her with the same rope that they'd used to haul her over the tall branch. They'd literally pulled the rope till her body had been at a fearsome height. That would require serious strength.

Arguably, it wasn't just the murder that was the most horrifying aspect of the circumstance. The killer had carved two words on the trunk of the fallen tree. The words still glowed, twenty four hours later.

It was a sort of burn hex, but not really wand magic. It was possible that it could have been somebody's Core ability to create heat like that, but aside from a handful of people who could actually create any kind of heat (none of them who fit the profile of the killer), Kingsley wasn't really sure what to make of the investigation.

Somebody had killed Rita Skeeter, had her body hanged right outside Hogwarts, and had carved the words 'Sweet Dreams', on a tree.

Anyone who'd read the article she had written on Harry Potter, would know exactly whom the killer was addressing.

* * *

 _Saturday, Nov. 17, 6:00 a.m.  
Dynasty Apartment, Manhattan_

When Rachel had reached home from the party, she had sat right by her bed and had taken out the Scythe charm bracelet to stare at it.

She'd already made her decision. She was terrified of what would follow.

Later, when it was early morning, the sun about to rise, she grabbed her pocket notebook, the one that had her most personal sketches. This was one book she'd never show anyone. Not just because it had some truly terrifying depictions of the monsters she'd Seen, but also because… well, she was sure at least have of the drawing were of the stuff that hadn't happened yet.

With no sleep and her mind racing, Rachel opened to a fresh page, stared at the blank yellow paper and picked up her pencil. An image was already coming to mind. she fiddled with the pencil in her left hand, while her right went to touch the bracelet again.

She shuddered. Soon, she began sketching a forest.

An hour later, her phone rang. Rachel almost didn't pick up. When Bolt finally nudged her knee, Rachel sighed and reached from her spot on the rug, towards the pillow she'd laid her phone on.

 _Annabeth calling._

Trying to inject some sunshine into her voice, Rachel swiped the green blinking icon and crowed, "Yo! My girl! Chase! How you doing?!"

Annabeth cleared her throat, " _Swell… um, Rachel, is this a bad time_?"

Sort of. Rachel had drawn a corpse hanging from a tree in a desolate forest. It was more of a silhouette than an immaculate rendering of a body, but that only made the depiction scarier.

"Not really. Why?"

" _It's just… gods, this is… don't take it the wrong way, but is there any way you could See something for me?"_

Rachel set the notebook aside. "See what?"

There was a pause over the line. Rachel could hear Annabeth arguing with someone.

" _Percy's gone on a solo quest. He hasn't really left a forwarding address, so…"_

Rachel winced. "Gods! Why do those two keep disappearing? You realise half our problems would go away if Percy and Harry just stay put?"

" _Unfortunately, the more you tell them to stay put, the more they'll want to get out."_

This was a new voice. Rachel frowned, trying to place the deeper, more wiser sounding words. Had she heard this person before?

" _It's Chiron, Rachel. I have heard quite a lot of things about you."_

Rachel blinked. Who's Chiron?

Bolt rolled her eyes. "The centaur trainer of heroes. He's a pretty big deal."

"Right." Rachel whispered. A centaur. Cool. She knew what that was.

"Er… hello." She told him.

" _Hello_." Chiron sounded a little amused. "How was the party, last night?"

"Great! Really good! Everyone was awesome… and stuff. Yeah! Can't wait for the next one."

" _Glad to hear it. Now, I'm afraid this isn't a completely social call –"_

"She knows why we called, Chiron." Annabeth spoke from the background.

" _Yes, but is she aware of the stakes?"_

"She is." Rachel said. "She can hear you. She knows that Percy's in big trouble."

" _No, Rachel."_ Chiron said. He sounded weary. _"This call was made in the belief that you may be able to help us. Your Sight is a gift, even among the circles of Clear-Sighted mortals. Clairvoyance is an ability people seldom have. And those that do, experience it in very different modes, If you choose to help us, you may be signing in on to this side of the war. If you are prepared to accept the terms of the situation, then I will let you join."_

Rachel frowned. "I feel like Ethan Hunt. You're the ones who called me. Why does this sound like a threat?"

" _That's because the situation can be very life-threatening. We will not involve you unless you agree to this, verbally and without coercion."_

"But I've helped you once, remember? The thing with Rome? I went to freakin' Rome!"

" _That was about Harry."_ Annabeth added, _"He isn't a demigod, so the rules are different. Plus, you can always state that you're related to him, so you were obligated to help him."_

"That's not why I helped him."

" _I know."_ Annabeth sounded like she was smiling. _"But now I'm asking you for help on demigod business. If you say no, I'll never bother you again. I know you haven't been on best terms with Percy, but I'd hoped –"_

"Sure." Rachel responded, without even thinking it through.

Bolt hissed at her. "Careful! You haven't given the Titans your decision!"

Rachel covered the speaker of her cell. "But I can't just let go of this. What if Percy's in trouble?"

"I thought you never wanted to see him again."

Bolt was half jesting. Her Familiar knew that Rachel wouldn't let him get hurt.

"I'm in." She told Annabeth and Chiron. "What d'you want me to do?"

" _Do you have any inclination as to where he might have gone?"_

The where question. Rachel remembered the Rome incident. When Annabeth, Percy, and Nico had called her, she'd blurted Rome. Right now, she couldn't think of any specific place –

"Home."

" _What?"_ Annabeth asked, half-yelling.

"I… I'm not sure why I said that. Did you call his mom? Does she know?"

" _We didn't. But Nico went to their apartment to check it out. Percy's not there. The bed wasn't slept in."_

Rachel cursed. "Then… I'm going to have to think about this. Give me a day."

" _A day? I'm leaving for Atlanta after breakfast, Rachel."_

"I have drachmas. I can IM you."

" _Iris Messaging is completely shut down_." Annabeth was frowning. " _And phone calls are too risky."_

"Urgh! Then… I have a mirror. Do you have yours?"

" _I don't have… the mirrors Harry and DJ had? No, I don't have that."_

"I can ask one of them to give theirs to you. Then we can keep in touch, no problem!"

Annabeth sounded impressed. " _Good idea. But how's it gonna get here?"_

Rachel shrugged. "Oh, I know someone who has no qualms about crossing continents and oceans. Same guy who can't stay put."

She confirmed that she'd be able to locate him. It comforted Annabeth, and after the call, Rachel felt better. She felt like she was doing something worthwhile and productive with her ability.

And then, like a balloon, she deflated. Bolt was right! What about Kronos? Damn, she'd have to answer to him, about rejecting his offer…

But it was supposed to be a choice. She had the right to say no. That was in the fine print.

Rachel looked back at her damning sketch and sighed.

" _Rachel Dare_!" Harry's voice jumped out of her mirror. Rachel blinked.

Speak of the devil…

"Yo, bro! How's you this fine morning?!" Rachel sang in tune as she picked up the mirror, holding it at the right angle to reflect all of her face, and none of her sketches. She saw Harry peer at her, dressed in a plain t-shirt, the background, a grey stone wall.

" _I'm… not as jaunty as you, clearly. You haven't taken off the pendant?"_

Huh? Rachel looked down at the charmed brown stone pendant and touched it briefly. "I forgot."

" _Yeah, I know how that feels."_

"Okay…?"

" _No, I mean…"_ Harry sighed. He seemed anxious and hesitant. _"I know a thing or two about having jewellery on you and forgetting it for ten years."_

He lifted the sleeve of his t-shirt, folding it back and over the Celestial Bronze bracelet that was branded to his arm. She gaped at it.

She'd drawn that once. It was in one of the earliest pages of her notebook!

Rachel mumbled. "Cool."

" _Yeah, so… I have to ask you something."_

"I'm working on it."

" _What?"_

"You called to ask about Percy. I know, Annabeth just phoned me. I spoke to a centaur named Chiron!"

Harry gave her a blank stare. " _What about Percy? Did something happen?"_

Rachel frowned. "You don't know? Wait, why are you calling?"

" _What happened to Percy?"_

"He's gone on a solo quest, but didn't tell anyone where he was going…"

" _What?! Son of a … did you say, Annabeth asked you to go find him?"_

"I'm going anywhere. I'm just searching through my visions… stuff like that. Why'd you call? Please take a token number while I'm busy with my first client."

Harry was speechless for a bit. Suddenly, his image changed as someone grabbed the mirror from him. Rachel found herself staring at Hermione Granger.

" _Hi! I'm Hermione! I mean, we've already met, of course. But… just making sure."_

"I'm Rachel Elizabeth Dare." She nodded. "What can I do for you today?"

" _Um… first of, I hope Percy's alright. I mean, that sounds bad, but… we've got a bit of a mystery ourselves."_

"Uhuh?"

" _Ooh, can I tell her!?"_ Someone else said in excitement. Hermione shifted the mirror and Rachel saw Ron Weasley appear on the screen.

"Hi, Ron."

" _Hi, Rachel! Wow, it's great to see you."_

Rachel grinned. She liked the pair's energetic aura. If she could recall, their colours had been brown and gold for Hermione, and orange-red and blue for Ron, of course.

"It's great to see you too. So, what's the mystery?"

" _Right, right, right. Um, why did you tell Harry not to go in the forest?"_

And just like that, all the mirth evaporated. Her fingers trembled a little and she readjusted her grip on the mirror.

"I had a bad feeling about that. It was pretty intense. I don't remember it, but all I knew was that none of you should have been there."

She said it without stammering, or her voice hitching. Good.

" _Yeah, well. There's a lot of security issues going on and we're certain that something's really serious down there. The castle is practically on lock down._ "

Rachel sat up, frowning at the news. "Oh my gods. Did someone get hurt?"

" _We don't know_." Harry sighed. The mirror turned again and this time, all three of them squeezed into the frame. " _Sirius was here. He said nothing's too bad. No one died. But it's no happy bowtruckle so we're supposed to stay clear of it_."

"Right." Rachel said. Something in his words struck her. It wasn't the bow-truck part, whatever that was. It was the 'no one died' part. It grated on her nerves like a sharp high pitched noise.

Rachel looked down at her notebook. The drawing she'd finished not ten minutes ago made her skin crawl. She looked at the sketch of the crudely carved words on the tree trunk – Sweet Dreams.

Where had she seen that before?

"Sweet Dreams." She whispered, trying to jog her brain.

" _What?_ " Harry asked, but she tilted her head away to search through her memories. Something that happened just a while back…

" _ **I read the article." Rachel whispered.**_

" _ **Romilda Vane is a destructive little wench." Harry muttered.**_

" _ **I thought it was Skeeter's writing? That beetle woman."**_

The article. The one DJ had talked about and had then, rather unwillingly, shown her.

 **Sordid Secrets of the Bi Who Lived - a precursor to the upcoming biography on Harry Potter** **\- Rita Skeeter**

Huh. She actually remembered the title.

"Harry, I'm not sure if this has anything to do with what you asked. But look out for Rita Skeeter."

Harry raised his eyebrows. " _Why is everyone talking about Rita Skeeter? Isn't that what Umbridge said?_ "

" _May be it has got something to with her._ " Hermione mused. Suddenly, her eyes lit up. " _May be they caught her trying to sneak into Hogwarts!_ "

" _Oh, that would make my day!_ " Ron cheered.

But Harry was still curt. " _No, it couldn't be just that. You saw them, you saw how tense they all were!_ "

Rachel watched as they argued about the mystery. She sighed. What good's a mystery without an X-marks-the-spot treasure?

"Hey, hey!" She interrupted them. "Call me back when you figure it out, 'kay?"

" _Okay. Wait! Wait, I'm coming over there in a bit. If Percy's –_ "

" _You can't!_ " Hermione cried. " _Did you forget what Sirius told you, half an hour ago?!_ "

" _No, I did not. I understood him perfectly. I never said I'd listen to him_."

"Hey, can you bring your mirror too?" Rachel called, stifling a yawn. The sleepless night was finally hitting her. "It'd be great if someone at camp as a mirror, so you can just talk whenever you want, free of cost and all."

" _Ooh, good idea._ " Ron agreed. _"Hey, any chance we can see you over the break?"_

"Dunno. Let's hope." Rachel said. Harry tapped on the mirror with his wand and his image cut out, revealing Rachel's reflection.

She yawned properly this time. Sweet dreams wasn't supposed to be a terrifying phrase. Infact, it sounded pretty pleasant to her right now.

Rachel left the mirror, her phone, and her notebook on the rug, and crawled into bed.

* * *

Tom opened his eyes, straining against the flesh of _his_ body. As before, the energy was good and contained. He stretched his legs, walking up the creaking stairs in Grimmauld Place. As he crossed a window, he peeked at his reflection.

Red eyes were the only giveaway to the otherwise outwardly perfect form of Percy Jackson. Tom frowned, concentrating on lowering the glow. The light retreated and was replaced by the regular green and blue shades of his irises. They were beautiful. A true representation of the sea. A timeless piece of magic on a mortal body.

Demigods were really something to behold. If he'd known Percy had been anything but a muggle, Tom might have doubted his ability to control him. But it took a few months to create a strong hold on his mind. Along with a few well-placed lies.

No matter. All he had to do was impersonate Percy for a week. It couldn't be that difficult.

* * *

 **Hee hee. My evil laugh needs a tune up. Stay tuned, readers.**

 **Q: Who do you think killed Rita Skeeter?**

 **Cabba.**


	47. Broken Promises

**A: As for Rita Skeeter's murderer… you'll find out when these characters do.**

 **Sherlock Harry Winchester: Thanks! You think 46 was wow, you'll love this one!  
Catie Cat: Nice guess! We'll have to wait and see.**

 **I love your responses! It keeps me going, thanks so much!**

 **Warning: Depiction of a corpse, mention of abortion (but that goes away quickly; I'll mark the section with 1234567890)**

 **Listening to – Flares by The Script**

* * *

It wasn't too bad. Tom felt moderately in control most of the time. He didn't peak, that's for sure.

Percy had a young, expressive face. Tom had tested that out in the mirror. He could look unassuming and innocent, and switch in a moment's notice to sharp and foreboding. Anyone with a superior sense of self could underestimate Percy, and it would be their undoing.

Clearly, the demigod had used this asset as discreet as possible. And Tom could now flex his acting muscles again.

The schedule from Stan Shunpike's Knight Bus register gave the answer he was looking for. But it made him shift his plans as well. He needed the bus to have a good five minute stop near Diagon Alley. The bus would never stop more than thirty seconds anywhere, unless during rush hour. A horde of people would just be messy.

He needed the bus to schedule its lunch break near the alley. That would happen only in December.

Percy was more or less out of it. He'd fought less and less every day, recognizing the futility of the exercise. Even so, Tom knew he needed to be quick about this. It was only a matter of time before everyone was convinced that Percy needed some kind of intervention. Many of them already had a lot of doubts.

He went over the plan in the barest of facts.  
1\. Cause a diversion (public panic)  
2\. Cause a second diversion (state of near emergency)  
3\. Infiltrate Gringotts (with the sub-plan)  
4\. Escape with the horcrux

It was going to be messy, that he knew for sure.

* * *

 _Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2012; 6:30 p.m.  
Atlanta, US_

Annabeth crouched beside Nico. They were huddled underneath a bridge, a cold sheet of rain pouring all around them. Atlanta was colder than usual. Winter had hit it with all kinds or directional winds.

They'd found nothing in or outside the city limits. Nico had held up the mirror, relaying the information to a dismayed Rachel.

"May be we would have found something if the Oracle had given us a prophecy, but she was totally silent!" Nico complained. "My first quest! Down the drain!"

"You'll get more, Nico. Don't worry." Annabeth sighed, trying not to lean against the cold brick wall of the bridge support. The mud and grass around them was wet. They had insulated the place with a kind of enchanted blanket that Annabeth had brought along. It kept them partially warm, but they could do nothing for the rains that lashed their faces.

" _You guys are drenched!"_ Rachel mourned. " _Look, just head for Hotel St. Bernie. Tell them Rachel Dare sent you. I'll call ahead. You can get food and some sleep before you come back."_

"We're about to leave when the rain stop –"

"Yeah, thanks! That sounds awesome!" Nico crowed, interrupting Annabeth.

Urgh. Rachel reminded her of Percy. Neither of them understood the concept of _roughin' it_ on quests.

"Look, did you have a dream or anything, yet?" Annabeth asked, not bothering to hide the annoyance in her voice. "We could use a hint."

Rachel buried her face in her hands. " _You're going to hate me."_

Annabeth's blood ran cold. Colder than the icy rain. Her hair clung to her face and she pushed back the tangles, grabbing the mirror from Nico. "What?! What is it? What did you see?"

"I tried, Annabeth! I really did. I just keep getting visions of corridors!"

"What sort of corridors? Describe them."

Rachel bounced off of her chair. "I can show them!"

She left the screen of the mirror for a moment. Annabeth gripped the sides of the mirror, feeling it strain under the pressure of her hold. Nico eyes her nervously.

Rachel's shadow alerted her arrival and she dropped back onto the chair, holding a sheet of A4 paper in one hand…

… where she'd drawn a horrifying sketch of a blackened, burned down corridor. Debris littered the floor, the walls were covered in grey strokes of a shading pencil, but Annabeth could easily imagine it being charred. The corridor was quite wide, and rather long. She could see crudely added doors on either side on the far end.

The most striking feature of the sketch was the lower portion of the hallway. Below a certain point, the walls were left uncharred, like Rachel had forgotten to shade it. The clear, slightly smudged, portions ran across both walls. The floor was intact as well, except for the mess of concrete.

"That's so cool!" Nico breathed.

"Have you ever been in this building, Rachel?" Annabeth asked, trying to pinpoint any other vital info.

"Probably. It feels familiar." She admitted. "But that might be because I've had a lot of dreams like this."

"Can you tell me the dream?"

"I…" Rachel faltered. "I guess so… it's… It started out with me walking here. I mean, I was afraid. I was scared of something, I can't remember what exactly. At the end of the corridor, there are two doors. One of them reads 'student' and the other reads 'camper'. Well, it used to be 'witch' and 'demigod', but that changed after the party."

"That's really vague." Nico pointed out. Rachel nodded. "Yeah. Sorry, I'm really trying, Annabeth. But I'm seeing a lot of unconnected things and it's just got nothing to do with Percy or anybody I know."

Annabeth slumped back. She'd hoped that by involving Rachel she'd made a risky but good decision. Because Rachel had the uncanny ability to know things. Had it all been a fluke? Could she really not connect with them?

"Sorry, Annabeth." Rachel winced. "I'll keep trying –"

"It's okay, Rachel. It was probably a long shot. Not even the Oracle said a word, and no one at camp knew anything either. I had hoped you might have caught something we missed. It's not your fault, I was being too…"

"Hopeful? That's not a bad thing, you know. See, it's been five days. Percy's already on his way back, probably. Just go the hotel, I'll phone ahead. It's gotta be freezing there."

Annabeth took one look at Nico, whose teeth were chattering, and agreed.

She cut the call and nudged Nico's shoulder. "Whatcha say, champ? Ready to trek another five miles to the hotel?"

Nico screwed his eyes shut. "Can we jus…just wait till it stops… raining?"

Annabeth slung an arm around him, rubbing the side of his arm. "Just a few minutes. I'm not sure if this is gonna let up. I was kidding about the trekking bit, by the way."

"I… know…"

Annabeth smiled.

At the same time, the shadow of the bridge shifted around them. A blast of freeing air hit them. Annabeth and Nico jumped and shrieked till the winds died down.

"Lee Lee!" Nico scolded. "Are you trying to turn us into a popsicle stand?!"

Mrs. O'Leary, the shaggy black hellhound gave a whine, placing her head on the ground, looking miserable.

Annabeth reached out to grab a tuft of her warm fur. "Aww, Lee Lee. We miss him too. Don't you worry, Percy'll come back."

The two demigods cuddled up to the hellhound, and when she shadow-travelled them to the hotel, they felt warmer immediately.

The hotel in question, was not as grand as Annabeth had expected. It was cozier and more reclusive, perfect for the odd billionaire to revel in anonymity if they didn't mind missing heated towels. Rachel had arranged a buffet in their room - just for the two of them. Perks of having a rich friend.

"Hey, Annabeth?" Nico asked, after managing to swallow down a bacon roll whole.

"Hmm?" She sat by the window, looking out at the rain. They'd taking long, hot showers, feeling much better now that the crusted dirt around them was gone. Luckily, the hall in the suite they were in, was large enough to house Lee Lee. Nico kept throwing chicken legs into her mouth.

"Are you and Percy alright?"

Annabeth tried not to snap at him. She felt like everyone had asked her the same question. Nico had refrained himself from following suit for five days, so she could at least feel a little relieved. But she knew his curiosity would win over soon enough.

"We just… need to sit down and have a proper conversation. Neither of us had the time before the party. We were all stressed about a hundred different things. Once Percy comes back, we can talk it out."

Nico nodded. Annabeth munched on her burgers, hoping her answer would suffice.

"Can I tell you something? It's… not actually that nice. But I think I should… tell someone."

Annabeth looked over at him. Nico was seated on the sofa, by the roaring fire. The hearth was nicely stocked and lent the entire room a special warmth, that was aided by the air conditioning.

Nico seemed hesitant, his general excitement and nervous energy, dimmed.

Over the five day, they'd more of less bonded. Annabeth and Nico had bunked in an alley way, taking turned to keep watch. They'd found and killed a pit of sea demons, smaller in numbers – probably the survivors after the Hunters had scrambled most of them up. They had also gotten stuck in an elevator for ten seconds (it had felt like half an hour, to them), while checking out a post office… long story.

Nico had talked about staying at the Jacksons. Annabeth had talked about making friends with the latest bunch of campers. They had short, good conversations. Nico was a sweet kid. She could see why Percy felt so protective over him.

"Sure. You can tell me anything, Nico." Annabeth dropped her legs from the window seat, to face him.

Nico took a deep breath, "It's Percy. He's been acting really weird over the past few weeks. I mean…. Yeah, that's obvious. We all know that. But, I think… I think that it's not because of stress."

Annabeth held her half-eaten burger tight enough to squeeze the mayo and cheese out. Not a tough feat, but she'd been avoiding that for a while.

"I think – " Nico began again. "…that Percy's dealing with something none of us knows about out. He hasn't told anyone, and he's been really weird about a lot of things…"

He dropped his eyes to the floor, as though he couldn't bear to look at Annabeth. She knew what he was feeling. A sharp prick of anxiety and guilt, for talking behind Percy's back, but also shame, for not catching what exactly was plaguing him.

Because of there was something truly off, shouldn't they be aware?

"So, that's just what I think. It might not be true. I don't know."

He finished his dinner, set his plate down and rushed off to bed. "Good night!"

Annabeth wished she had tuned out his words. Unfortunately, they not only resonated in her memory, their slow truth came forward to stand in front of her eyes.

Had they been fools to miss the signs? What if they really was something wrong, something immensely wrong? What if they didn't know the extent of Percy's anger and pressure?

What if they were too late?

* * *

 _Saturday, Nov. 24; 7:00 a.m.  
Jackson Apartment, Manhattan_

Nico stepped out of the shadows, on the bright Saturday morning. He'd spent three days at camp, basically doing nothing but worry about Percy. When the Hunters had finally left last night, he figured he might also go back home. Sally would be at least a little relieved on seeing him, even if she had no clue about Percy's whereabouts.

When he stepped into the silent house, Nico remembered that Sally would be at the community college. Right, she had classes.

He thought about his own classes. He'd missed an entire week. He wondered what excuse they could spin up for him, this time. They'd used 'family emergency' a lot.

Nico didn't want to sit in the house by himself. Feeling jittery, he grabbed the bag that he'd been travelling around with and headed for the hearth, flooing over to Frost. The mansion was empty too, so he went straight to Grimmauld Place, hoping someone from the Order was at the safe house.

The weather in London wasn't as cold as it was in Gretna Green, but it was cooler than New York. Nico walked into the kitchen, his footsteps barely creaking on the wooden floorboards. The dim ambience of the rooms set his heart pacing.

There were papers on the table. Nico stopped in front of them, trying to read the very official looking folder from which several sheets were spilling. The file had been carelessly thrown onto the table, he guessed.

There was a kettle placed on the counter. Nico saw steam rising from the spout.

He'd just missed someone, then. May be Sirius had come by, made tea, and had gone elsewhere, leaving a file here.

Nico dropped his bag on the table and sat on the chair, feet dangling a few inches from the floor. He pulled the file towards him, looking through the pages.

His stomach plummeted right through him.

It was a crime file. The first page had a moving photograph of a woman, hanging by a noose from a tall tree.

He recognized her. It was Rita Skeeter.

Nico felt his breaths grow louder, trying not to gasp at the sight. She looked terrible. Her face was swollen, yellow from the rope around her neck. Her eyes were closed, but there was a frozen expression of pain across her features. As he watched, the people that moved below her, possibly Aurors at the scene, were looking up, talking mutely about what might have happened.

He read the report.

It was a murder. Someone had… what?... taken her to _Hogwarts?_ Still alive! And had murdered her…

Nico took at least twenty minutes to read the short paragraph. The writing was tiny and he squinted trying to piece together what it said.

"Sweet Dreams." He read out loud.

Someone had carved the words on a tree trunk on the ground, right by the woman… the body.

He saw another photograph of the words. Nico shivered. It reminded him of scary carving on Halloween pumpkins. The words were carved by hand, sharp and disturbing. The letters glowed in bright yellow light, soft and horrifying.

Nico placed the file on the table, trying to slow his breathing. He swallowed, realizing that a woman he'd once met, was now dead.

Feeling impulsive, Nico took out his phone, switching it on and logging onto the _Awaiting Judgement Registry_. The thing was coming in handy nowadays.

He typed in her name when the page loaded. He hoped it would work. All mortals passed through the website.

Well, all except for Harry and Percy.

Nico held in another shudder. The page turned red before displaying the reporter's file.

 **Rita Skeeter**

 **Affiliation – None**  
 **Category – Mortal Witch**  
 **Died – November 15, 2012**  
 **Time of Death – 23:12:04**  
 **Aged – 45 years, 5 months, 1 day, 2 hours, 10 minutes, 42 seconds**  
 **Cause of Death – Hanging (Premeditated)**  
 **Character – Negative inclined – *to be continued***  
 **Crimes – Unfounded publishing of information, Accessory to extortion**  
 **Good Deeds – Donated to the School of Classical Music, Wales Edition**  
 **Initial Judgement – Fields of Asphodel**

 _ **Status – Awaiting Judgement**_

Nico blinked. Skeeter was awaiting judgement.

She would be in Charon's lobby.

He didn't even hesitate. Nico grabbed his bag again, walking right into the shadow behind the kitchen door.

* * *

Sirius and Sally stepped into the kitchen of Grimmauld Place, right after the previous inhabitant exited it.

"Ugh!" Sally wrapped her shaking hands around herself. "It feels colder than it was before."

Sirius took off his coat, settling it on her shoulders. He led her to the chair that had been pulled.

"Huh." Sirius muttered, frowning at the file he'd dropped on the table. "Did you read this?"

"Read what?" Sally asked, passing her hand over her temples.

"The file… I swear, I'd closed it."

"I didn't. Is it a new case?"

"About… d'you want some tea?"

"I don't know if I'm allowed." Sally pressed her forehead to the table. Sirius set the mug of hot tea on the counter.

"Sally, I think you should go to the hospital."

"It's fine. It's just morning sickness." She just sighed, not wanting to talk about it.

Sirius tried not to get annoyed. It wasn't easy. Sally still hadn't decided if she wanted to keep the child, and she also refused to talk about it with him.

 **1234567890**

"Sal." Sirius kept his voice as gentle as possible. "You're more than a month along. You need to make a decision."

"I'm thinking!" Sally snapped, glaring up at him. "I'm trying! I'm trying to decide if it's fine to bring a baby into the world, when there are multiple threats around!"

"Alright!" Sirius said, voice louder than necessary. Sally turned away, fuming.

"I just need time. That's it. Once I decide I'll just… I'll just do it."

Sirius didn't say anything. He knew that the longer she waited, the more difficult it would get. When he'd stepped into the house hours ago, intent on taking a shower and leaving for the Ministry, he hadn't expected to find Sally barfing in their bathroom.

She had been pale, shaking uncontrollably, and he knew it wasn't just about the morning sickness. She'd stopped eating properly, the moment Annabeth had told her that Percy had left on some obscure mission. Sally had been worried sick when Nico had told her that he'd be leaving to search for Percy.

Sirius didn't tell her about Rita Skeeter. The last thing she needed to know was that a maniac had gone and murdered Skeeter, a maniac who showed signs of interest in Harry.

He picked up the file and shrunk it down to the size of a muggle stamp, slipping it into his pocket.

Sally sniffed. "I don't know what to do. I don't even know where my baby is, how can I raise this one?"

 **(warning ends)**

Her anguish tugged at Sirius' heart and he immediately went to stand by her, wrapping his arms around her cold body. She willingly leaned into him, trying to breathe slowly.

"Sally, you're one of the best mothers I've ever had the pleasure of knowing." Sirius whispered. "Percy loves you; I've seen him look at you like _you're_ the godly parent, not Poseidon. And I've seen Nico listen to you when you help him with his homework. I've never seen him sit so still, even with his ADHD. And Harry and DJ love you too. They listen to you when they won't even listen to me or Remus. You're good with kids. That's not an issue you need to even think about."

Sally's breath hitched. "I don't… know where he is. What if he's gone to Atlantis? What if he's fighting right now, I'm just up here, doing nothing!?"

He hugged her tighter, feeling her head turning towards his chest. He tried to think of the right words to say, till he recalled something she'd told him a while back.

"Hey… you remember when, when Harry and I disagreed on him joining the Order?"

She nodded. Sirius pressed his lips to her sweaty hair. "You remember me complaining about how difficult it was to reason with him? I mean, it wasn't even an argument, it was just me yelling over him till I left."

Sally sighed. "He knows you care about him. You broke out of freakin' Azkaban to get to Harry and DJ. He knows that you're not letting him join the Order before you worry about them. He just doesn't want to feel useless. For Harry, sitting around doing nothing, plagues him. It's not your fault."

"Exactly." Sirius couldn't help but smile at the fondness in her voice as she spoke about Harry. "You feel useless sitting here, unable to do anything for Percy. But that's not true. Just because you can't do something, doesn't mediate your value any less. You're just as important to Percy. You're doing the right thing by believing that he can manage his quest, even if it means you're not doing anything active."

Sally curled up to him even more. Sirius caught her hand, squeezing her palm. She held his just as tightly.

She gave a wry laugh. "One kid can't get help because I'm not equipped to help him."

"And the other doesn't want my help, no matter how much I can do." Sirius sighed.

They stayed like that for a while till she stopped shaking. Till she relaxed completely. Sally lifted her head, resting her chin on his chest.

"Just because Harry says he doesn't want your help, doesn't mean he wants you to leave." She said, bright blue eyes holding good intentions. "He wants to be independent."

"He has two years for that. Until then, I'll be hounding him to make sure he goes to sleep at the right time." Sirius grumbled, not wanting to imagine a seventeen year old Harry Potter, declaring that he was going to move out of the house.

Sally laughed. She looked much better than when he'd found her, quite literally in the dumps.

"I'm sorry for pestering you about deciding fast." He muttered.

She watched him carefully. "You said you'd be with me the whole time."

Sirius swallowed. "Of course. I wouldn't leave you for the world, Sally."

The words _I love you_ , were right there, unsaid, but very loud. She didn't look away for a good while, eyes searching his face for an answer.

"I don't want to raise the baby on my own." She whispered, and Sirius felt like something had hit him on the head. It was the first time she'd used the word 'baby'.

He felt the oxygen slowly return to his lungs. With a deep inhale that freed the weight on his chest, Sirius tried to laugh, but it came out broken. "Like I said… I wouldn't leave you for the world."

Her answering smile blinded him and he leaned down to kiss her. After a week of feeling numb, snapping at various people, he finally felt a ray of sunshine.

Their lips moved, almost snapping at each other in the process of trying not to laugh. Sally finally pulled away, giggling uncontrollably, when he bent searching for more.

"We're going to have a baby!" She whispered. "Oh gods! How're we gonna tell the boys?"

Sirius only laughed. "I don't know! But on the bright side, we might not need to buy any Christmas presents for them. This should be enough, don't you think?"

* * *

Charon's lobby was cold and very uninviting. Nico zipped up his jacket, as he stepped out from behind one of the pillars, watching the various torches lit with green light, flicker at his presence. The thousands of souls that waited around the vast, sprawling area of the lobby started to whisper at his sight. He knew they could tell there was something distinct about him that they themselves couldn't feel.

Mainly that Nico was alive amidst crowd of the souls of the dead.

Charon's desk had his plaque placed immaculately in the front centre. There was a vase of dying roses by the side. Nico grimaced at the decor, wishing the place could look a bit nicer. The god in question, wasn't in the lobby. Nico didn't know how long it took to ferry a boat full of souls, but he didn't want to wait there for hours.

He turned towards the souls and cleared his throat. Souls were close to ghosts, right? As the Ghost King, he should have some kind power over them. If he could find Rita Skeeter's soul and ask her who killed her…

Nico held in a shiver. Come on! He was the fearsome son of Hades! He shouldn't be afraid of a room full of departed souls.

Someone let out a ghostly wail, nearly scaring the skin off his body.

"Alright, I can't search this entire room!" Nico muttered, closing and opening his fists. He cleared his throat and raised his voice, "HEY! Rita Skeeter! You here?"

The souls started muttering even louder, looking towards each other. Nico tried to not focus on their various fatal injuries that was still visible in death.

"Everyone who can hear me, listen up!" Nico called. Some of the souls stared, the others still kept talking.

Nico placed his fingers in his mouth and blew hard. It was nowhere as good as Percy's, but the whistle was still loud to make the most of the room's occupants fall silent.

"Thanks!" he said, "I need you all to search for a woman with bright blond hair, er… wearing green glasses, a white shirt and a green skirt!"

Those were the clothes she'd been wearing in the photograph. The green of her skirt had been vivid, very flashy and very Rita Skeeter-esque.

The souls started to look around, talking over each other. Nico wasn't sure if this really helped, seeing as they began to walk all around the room. He couldn't keep an eye on them.

 _Bright green skirt, bright green skirt._ Nico dove into the crowd, wading right through the souls, trying to find a flash of the colour. It didn't help that the souls were all quite muted. If he tried, he could see right through them.

Suddenly, there was a commotion from behind one of the pillars. Nico heard voices yell, "Found her!" "Right here!"

Nico ran through the souls, making many of them leap and shriek.

"Sorry, sorry, excuse me, really sorry about this!" He chanted rushing towards the place where at least thirty souls must have gathered.

"Yuck!" Someone shouted. "Get off! Get away! Hey, I'm warning you!"

Nico slid to a stop, watching the souls shove Skeeter to the front to face him.

Skeeter arranged her shirt which had been ruffled from all the yanking. Nico stared at her purple bulging throat which still had sharp indents left from the rope. He tore his gaze away from that, looking at her as she sneered down at him.

"Well?"

How did she sound so acidic even in death… ?

"Um." Nico said. "You're dead."

Skeeter glared at him. "Oh really? Thanks for the update. I wondered why I was a ghost!"

He braced himself, trying to project some strength in to his voice. "Do you know who killed you?"

She looked over her glasses, analysing him. Nico clenched his jaw, trying to keep still.

"What's in it for me?"

Thinking fast, Nico said, "Leave us." The other souls muttered, slouching away from where they'd been watching the interaction eagerly.

Nico stepped forwards, when they were moderately left to themselves. "Take a guess as to how long you might be here."

Skeeter's glare dimmed. She looked around the room. "You mean limbo?"

"This isn't your final destination." Nico told her. He walked around, waving an arm. "This is the lobby where all departed souls stop first. How familiar are you with Greek mythology?"

Skeeter's eyes snapped to his. She looked horrified. "Is that what you are? Some Ancient Greek ghost possessor?"

"Possessor?"

"I saw you in that house." She insisted. "You looked alive. You still look alive! What are you?"

"I'm alive. You're not. You're a soul, destined to wait here for a long time, till Charon decides to ferry you. Because if any soul really wants to leave this room, they need to have payment."

Nico dug into his pocket and pulled out a small golden coin. The drachma glittered in the dim light, and caught all of her attention. Skeeter stared at it, entranced.

"The ferry fare." She whispered. "To cross the river of the dead."

He nodded. "Tell me who killed you."

He hid the coin from her and she blinked out of her reverie. "If I tell you the truth… you'll give me the coin?"

"Yes."

"You swear?"

Nico wanted to agree, but her face had changed back to her usual self, her eyes cunning. She was planning something.

Skeeter glared at him, down her nose. "You are a _child_." She spat. "You can't play with the adults if you don't know the game. And you have no clue to what you're doing."

Nico fumed at her dismissal. "May be I should just leave you here to wait for the next thousand years?"

She rolled her eyes, like that meant nothing. "Tell me something. Who found my body?" Her eyes glittered. "Was it you?"

"No."

She looked like she didn't believe him. "Poor boy. I hope you won't get nightmares from that."

Skeeter walked towards the pillar where she must have been standing, before he'd made everyone look for her. Her heels clicked against the marble.

"You don't know." Nico whispered.

Skeeter's eyes flashed. "You sure? I thought you wanted to know this quite badly. If all it will cost you is one Ancient Greek coin –"

"If you knew, you'd take the deal."

"And if you knew, you wouldn't be here. Why do I get the feeling that no one knows?"

Skeeter tilted her head and gave a grin. It exacerbated her neck. Even though he could see the golden and marble pillar behind her, he could also very easily catch the turns in the molten skin of her neck.

It was disturbing. He almost couldn't look away. It was like the dead squirrel that Harry had brought in Frost, almost a year ago.

"If you give me the real name of your killer, I will give you this coin."

He held out the drachma again. Skeeter stared at it long enough, long until Nico started to feel twitchy. Something was wrong.

"Nice, clean deal." A new voice said.

Nico took several steps back, hand going for his sword. He saw Charon standing right behind the pillar, eyes burning a sharp orange. He was clad in a high end tux, looking quite livid.

Skeeter took one look at him and shrunk away, trying to escape his gaze, but Charon snapped his fingers.

As Nico watched, Rita Skeeter's soul disappeared up into green and grey smoke.

The god turned towards Nico. He was looking at the coin.

"D…do you know who killed her?"

Charon showed him his teeth. It wasn't a smile. "I'm sure you have access to the Registry."

"I do." Nico frowned. "But it's not given…"

It was very silent. He noticed the other souls, cowering behind all the columns and furniture, not daring to grab the deity's attention.

Charon frowned, looking almost confused. "A person's registry always shows how they died."

"It did. I checked. But it didn't say who killed her."

"Impossible."

"No." Nico pointed out. "You showed me Gabe Ugliano's file. His murderer wasn't mentioned."

The god almost snarled at him. "Well then! There's nothing we can do."

"How? I thought we keep all records – "

"We do!" Charon snapped. The torches nearest to them, flickered out. The temperature dropped and Nico had to widen his stance to stop himself from fleeing.

"Some information is not made to be seen, but rather to be contained." Charon said, straightening to his full height. He gave him a smile, features suddenly twisting from coarse and angry, to sharp and beautiful.

He was talking about the restricted section, Nico realised. The one bit of information that was for only Hades' eyes.

Someone from the restricted pages had killed Rita Skeeter.

"Does your father know you're here?" Charon mused.

Nico suddenly had an idea. "Do you have access to the restricted files?"

Charon glared down at him.

"I guess that's a no." Nico said. "Look, if you don't know who killed her, why didn't you let me ask her?"

The god raised his hand, showing Nico the way back to the desk. Nico hesitated, before walking slowly. Charon fell into step with him. It was almost like they were walking in a dimly lit museum, except there were thousands of souls hunching against the walls, trying to move away from them.

"Mortals rarely remember the events that transpire before their deaths. Rita Skeeter most certainly doesn't remember who her murderer is. She was trying to trick you. But like I have mentioned, you made clean deal, without a loophole. I am almost proud of you."

Nico gaped. "She didn't know? How? Why?"

"Effects of the River Lethe." Charon shrugged. "The moment you enter the Underworld, your memories are affected to a degree. That and the trauma, I suppose."

"But I'm fine…"

"I mean the mortal souls. If you enter the kingdom with your body you have much better chances of fighting the affects. There is strength in your physical form. You may be the most mundane, most ordinary mortal to walk the land, but you have the ability to combine a solid physical form with your limitless soul, and your intangible mind. There is almost no other combination as simple, yet deadly as that."

Charon spoke like he was giving a divine lecture. Nico looked up at him, watching him explain about the body, the mind, and the soul, like it was some impossible thing.

"But that always happens. All the mortals, people, animals –"

"Terrifying creations of the everyday." Charon hummed. "The only weakness of the living, is the dead. Death separates the soul from the body. That moment makes the mind cease to exist. All you have left are the memories on the soul, and a rotting corpse."

Nico felt like he knew what Charon was trying to tell him. "And what happens when a mortal can't die?"

The god smirked. "That's a question for the ages. When a mortal cannot be affected by death, we put their file in the restricted section. There is nothing we can do for them."

Charon look at Nico. "I'm sure you're aware of … someone like that."

"How many files are in the section?" He whispered.

The god contemplated. Nico gripped the coin he held and said, "You know what? Why don't you keep this for a while."

He held up the drachma. Charon's eyes were impulsively drawn to it. "How kind of you. Don't mind if I may."

He took the coin, but Nico kept a tight grip on it. Charon gave a deep chuckle that resonated like music. "Huh. I almost like you, hero."

Nico raised his eyebrows, trying to seem intimidating. Honestly, he was fighting down a blush.

"The thing about having information that no one else knows…" Charon spoke again, "It makes you powerful. Knowing the right things, and knowing to use them at the right time. That's true power. More than the flash and bang of physical elements and magic. There are seven files in the restricted section."

Charon snatched up the coin, high above Nico's reach. "For now, anyway."

* * *

Percy and Grover sat on the grass. It was a beautiful summer day. The birds sang, the sky was dotted with clouds, the lake glittered under the sun. The air was filled with soft sounds of campers laughing and going about their daily lives.

"I've messed up everything." Percy said, looking past the cabins and over at the thin line of the beach. The Atlantic Ocean spread out, almost green and blue.

"A lot of things are messed up." Grover corrected him. He looked different. His horns had grown in his slumber. The boys wore blue jeans and orange camp t-shirts. If Percy closed his eyes, he could almost feel the raging heat of the locket burning the skin on his chest. He was sure that it was a wound he'd never recover from. He shouldn't.

"He's going to kill Harry. I can't stop him." Percy felt his voice crack. Even in his head, he couldn't keep it together.

Grover took a while to answer. "He's breaking his vow, Percy. Use it against him."

"But I can't! I tried, I can't break out of here! I'm stuck!" Percy grabbed his hair, yanking the roots, trying to feel some kind of physical pain, but he felt nothing. "He… Harry's going to think I killed him! I am… I am going to kill him. Oh gods…"

He felt the sobs coming, making him breathe shallow. His lungs hitched at every cough. The pain was there, it was always there now. His body ached, because he wasn't even in control, because he'd agreed to help a spirit, a piece of Voldemort.

He remembered the first time he actually saw Tom. In a park, in London, a five minute walk from the safe house. Was it all planned?

Obviously. Tom knew that Percy would help him. A poor little spirit stuck in the house, wanting freedom, wanting his stuff back. His treasures, that were just. Like. That. Locket.

"What if he's right, though?" Grover whispered. "What if Harry can't die?"

" _That doesn't mean_ –

"It doesn't!" Grover said, hastily. "I'm saying, you need to keep your wits about you. The moment you can get back some control, tell him about Voldemort, about the ring, and the diadem."

Percy propped up his knees, placing his forehead on them. He'd been stuck in this imaginary setting of camp, while Tom had roamed everywhere in his body. Tom had pretended to be Percy, setting up everything he needed to successfully break into Gringotts.

Unfortunately, the first part of that plan – cause a diversion (public panic) – involved killing a publicly known figure.

"I'll kill him." Percy whispered.

Grover sniffled. "You're not the one killing him. When Harry realises –"

"No, Grover. I mean, I'm going to kill Tom." Percy breathed, mind set on his goal. "I don't care if I have to stab the locket while it's on me, but I will make sure that Tom dies if he lays a hand on Harry."

* * *

 _Saturday, Nov. 24; 9:00 p.m.  
Hogwarts, Scotland_

"If I have this right," Harry began, dropping into his chair. "Horace Slughorn is the only person who would know about a …'horcrux'?"

Dumbledore leaned away from the pensieve that sat on the desk. He walked towards Fawkes' stand where a tiny phoenix lay curled in a thick woollen sock. Fawkes, having regenerated only a while back, was still featherless and small enough to easily fit into one of their hands.

The Headmaster rubbed his thumb over his Familiar's head and the bird cooed in delight. "Horace has gone into hiding ever since the published return of Voldemort. I have ventured to a few places that he has been partial to, have even been close on his tail, once. But he knows his way around the country. Has quite the following."

"So he wants to stay away from Voldemort, and doesn't want to interact with any of us." Harry surmised, running a hand through his hair. "How are you sure he hasn't left the country?"

Dumbledore stood to his full height. "We know that Voldemort is in Germany. There are rumours that say he plans to leave for another city, still within the continent. The lack of confirmation that it is anywhere in England, leads me to believe that Horace will stay where he believe he is protected. The familiar is the safest."

Harry tipped his head back to look at the ceiling. Many of the portrait of previous headmasters and headmistresses gave him the stink eye.

"And the vigilante has been stealing these horcruxes." Harry said, looking back at him.

Dumbledore nodded, "I have had Marvolo Gaunt's ring in my possession. Despite the many protections, the thief managed to obtain it. Looking at the disturbing number of events that have happened over the weeks –"

"You're not in their favour." Harry finished.

"It is not about that. We still remain uninformed of what the thief plans to do with the ring. The worst case scenario is if they have managed to get their hands on any of the others."

The frustration was well hidden, but Harry could point out the weight in his words. "How many do you think are out there."

"I think we have discussed about Voldemort's favourite number."

He sat, staring at Dumbledore in disbelief. "Seven! There are seven things like the diary?!"

"It is my guess that the diary is one of the horcruxes. It may be a completely different object –"

"This is not the time for modesty." Harry muttered. "You said, that it has to be a very different very unnatural kind of magic. That's what the diary did! It was… it's like there was a piece of him in it. That's not normal! It wasn't just a memory container. It could think for itself, it could sustain on another person's magic, _it was him!_ "

Dumbledore sat down, facing the pensieve and avoiding eye contact. "I will not refute you."

"You mean you won't refute yourself. That's great. I don't have to point out that your guesses are usually correct."

A smile played on his lips. Harry rolled his eyes.

"That is all for now. I would like to have another session before the holidays. I may take the time to search for Horace again."

He hesitated for a moment. "Harry, would you like to come along?"

Harry sat up. "I'm sorry, what?"

"If I did procure the whereabouts of Horace, would you accompany me to see him?"

They stared at each other for approximately three seconds before Harry burst into laughter. One of the portraits tutted him, but he just shook his head. "Sorry, Headmaster. My guardian's been strict with me. No outdoor conveniences for till they get the vigilante sorted."

Dumbledore placed his palms in front of him, tips touching the end of his crooked nose. "Oh yes, of course. That would be for the best."

"No offence. Unless you'd like to take it up with Sirius –"

"I'd rather not. He has quite a lot on his plate."

Dumbledore sounded very drained, suddenly. Harry sat up, alert.

"Do you mean the break-in?"

"Pardon?"

"Last week." He said impatiently. "The break-in, last week."

"There was no break-in, Harry."

"They why the castle go on lockdown for a full twenty four hours?"

"There was a ward inspection."

"You expect me to believe that?"

"Harry." Dumbledore sounded, for lack of a better word, annoyed. Harry wasn't sure if he was supposed to be proud that he actually annoyed Albus Dumbledore, or if he should be irritated by the low reaction.

"I will send you a message by next week." He said. Harry held in the urge to scoff. He stood up.

"I will find out what happened." He threatened him. Dumbledore nodded.

"I have no doubt you will. But this case is sensitive in nature. Tread lightly."

As usual, Harry hated the cryptic comments, but now, he was starting to hear the concern underlying the words. So he gave a short nod and said, "Good night, Professor."

"Good night."

He left the office, making his way across the castle that was slowly falling silent in the cold night. The wind howled on the grounds and it made him feel glad that he was warm and safe within Hogwarts.

Harry thought about making a stop by the kitchens, but then remembered that Ron and Hermione had promised to wait up on him. He didn't think they'd be awake, seeing as how the three of them had spent the past two night hurriedly clearing up their homework load that had been piled up over the week. They had a lot of small tests starting December.

"Demiguise dematerialise." Harry told the Fat Lady. Delilah gave a yawn and barely looked at him, as she swung the portrait open.

Harry was right. Ron and Hermione were sound asleep on the couch in front of the fireplace. Ron's head was partly on his bag and partly on Hermione's lap. She was stretched over the arm of the couch, neck leaning on what Harry hoped was a comfortable angle.

He couldn't help but smile.

"You softy." DJ spoke. Harry turned and spotted him on one of the armchairs by the window. He was the only other person in the common room.

"You waited for me?" Harry asked, walking over and sitting opposite, propping his feet right on the armrest of DJ's chair.

"Who'd wait for you? No. Colin's sneaking around in the Potion's classroom. He wanted to get all the photos done today."

Harry gaped. "He willingly broke into the dungeons? And you let him?!"

"Relax, Luna's with him! I mean, if they do get caught, Luna will confuse Snape so much he'd just let them go." DJ leaned back, trying to look suave, but his face had gone pink at the mention of her name.

Harry smiled, "You really trust them, don't you?"

"Well, duh! They're my friends. Nothing better than friends."

"What about family?"

DJ frowned. "Agree to disagree. I mean, we're friends, aren't we Harry?"

He nodded, "Sure...how does Luna deal with Snape during Potions?"

"Ooh. It's a treat, Harry. You should have been there in first year. He called on her to answer some stuff and the entire conversation turned over so that she was asking him questions. He's learnt his lesson, though. Snape never talks to her now."

"Amazing." Harry shook his head, grinning. "So, how many photos are there."

"Hmm, a little over 200."

"Oh."

"Yeah. And he's making copies so we can send them over to camp."

"Right."

Harry leaned sideways on his chair to look over at the sleeping pair.

"Hey, guess what?!" DJ's voice managed to demonstrate exactly how bright his eyes were shining, with the sudden excitement. "I ordered your Christmas present! You're gonna love it!"

"Really? What is it?"

"It… whoa, wait, I'm not telling you."

Harry knocked on DJ's arm with his toe. DJ pushed his feet away. "Not telling."

"Then why did you say it?"

"I just… I mean, I couldn't think of anything to get you…" DJ pressed his lips together in worry. "But then… the other day I went with Colin and Luna to the Queer Club for a session. And I learnt a lot about labels, and I figured you didn't get the chance to come out, so I thought I could do something about that."

Harry stared. "Queer Club? Wait, did you erase the memory of that article from the minds of everyone in the continent?"

"Not really… yeah, there's a Queer Club. Didn't you know?"

"Just because I'm bi, doesn't mean I have power to detect other gay people."

DJ stared, confused. "But Colin says he _can_ detect other gay people."

"Colin can, doesn't mean I can."

"No, Colin said that every gay person can figure out the others."

"Yeah…" Harry said, trying to think back to what Rachel might have said anything about detecting people.

The portrait swung open and a panting Colin Creevey stumbled inside, carrying a pouch that looked like it could fit one and only one book. Hermione would not be impressed.

"Hey!" DJ sprung up from the chair. "Did you get caught?"

"If I'd gotten caught…I wouldn't be here!" Colin gasped. He shoved the pouch into DJ's hands. "I didn't have the time. They're all frozen. Morgana, I need to get a spitter. You know that can develop the photo completely without potions? Costs a ton, though."

"Uhuh." DJ had a glint in his eyes that Colin missed, as he yawned. "Some of the photos got a little messed up. I blame Connor. I gotta… I'm gonna bed, bye."

"Bye, Colin!" DJ chirped, looking very pleased. As Colin made his way up the stairs, DJ turned around to face Harry.

"How much does a spitter cost?"

Harry raised his eyebrows. "Would that even matter to you?"

"You're right. I just hope I can find a good brand."

Harry watched as DJ sat back down and opened the pouch to take out the photographs. "You like getting people stuff."

"Well, yeah. It's fun."

"Most people prefer to save up for something for themselves."

DJ looked up, confused. "But we're rich. We don't need to save up."

"So, you just spend it?"

"Yeah! What do you do with the gold?"

Harry fell silent. The last thing he'd done with his share of the Potter fortune, was fund the party. Before that… he'd bought sweets from Hogsmeade.

Still, he'd shared those sweets with Ron and Hermione. It wasn't like he was selfish.

"Wow! Ginny's gonna like this one." DJ said, holding up one of the photos. Harry leaned to get a good look.

Like Colin said, it was frozen. It looked like a regular muggle screenshot. Ginny and Rachel were by the tables, arms around each other, practically leaning into the other. It looked like they were slow dancing to soft music. He'd never seen Ginny so content.

"They look good," Harry said, surprising himself. He'd thought he'd feel a little resentment towards the couple, a smidge of jealousy, but nothing bad cropped up.

DJ watched him closely. "Good. I thought you'd pitch a fit or something."

"I'm not that much of brat."

"You could be."

"I could." He relented. "Besides, Rachel and Ginny would kick my arse if I acted out. I like to stay in one piece, thank you."

DJ laughed. "Aw, here's one of Colin and Connor… whoa, there's a lot with those two."

Harry nearly cackled at the dozens of photos with the aforementioned boys, who had taken several selfies with silly faces. Connor looked absolutely delighted at having met Colin.

"There's one with the group playing spin-the-bottle. Wow, Lee and Drew are really… into each other…This one is of the grounds. That's a good angle….Okay, Percy and Annabeth are just making out in this one… Oh!"

DJ stopped at one of the photos, picking it up to stare at it, wide eyed.

"Is this… Sky?"

Harry snatched the card to stare at the image. It was Sky. It wasn't a very clear picture. The camera had shaken at the right moment to make Sky's entire form into a blur. The focus of the image was more on Harry. The two of them were in the kitchen, bathed in purple light from the strobe. Sky, Harry guessed, was sitting on the kitchen island, while Harry was standing in front of him. He was laughing. The humour was easy going, and it made him look good.

He didn't realise that he'd been staring at it for a while, till DJ said, "Looks like an Obfuscation charm."

Harry nodded, dimly recalled the spell he talked about. A charm used by people, generally the more famous ones, to hide their faces or entire visages from nosy cameramen.

"There are more I think. See, they're all blurred. Colin's photos are usually on point."

Harry looked at the others DJ was showing, but none of them had Sky in them. Instead, it was of several group photos, where the corner or a small point was blurred.

"That's not him." Harry frowned. "We didn't… he didn't go into the hall."

"What, you stayed in the kitchen the entire time?"

"Just a couple of hours. He wasn't feeling too well."

"Okay." DJ said, uncertain. "But these photos are blurred. See, I think they're hiding someone."

Harry focused on the first group photo. It must have been earlier in the night. The food tables were more or less full, and the hall was choked with people dancing to the first songs of the night. One corner, right beside Annabeth, looked fuzzy.

He looked through a few others. There was a spot by Castor that looked blurred, in another, the space right behind Percy was checkered in red and black shades. Harry frowned. There was a dart board there. At least, there had been. It wasn't visible in the shot.

It was Beckendorf's dartboard. He'd forgotten it behind and Harry had promised to return it, but he hadn't really stepped out of the castle in a week.

Something about the photographs sent a shiver down him spine. Something was off.

"Are there negatives?" Harry asked DJ. The fourth year dug through the pouch and nodded, "Yeah."

He handed a small cover filled with sheets of negative images. Harry held them, ready to take them out and inspect them but stopped for a bit. He had a better idea.

"I… need to ask Colin something."

"Yeah, I think I'll turn in." DJ yawned.

"Okay!" Harry said, turning around. "Um, I'll ask him in the morning. Better wake up these two. Good night, DJ!"

"Why d'you sound so…" DJ asked with a frown. "Odd? Are you lying?"

Harry sighed. "Come on, DJ. Just… I need to… I'll be back in an hour, I swear."

"You are not leaving!" DJ cried. "Didn't you hear Sirius?!"

"I did! I didn't go anywhere for an entire week! I didn't even go see Rachel. It's killing me, you know!"

"Harry –"

"Please, DJ. I promise. I'll come back in an hour. Just one hour, that's it!"

DJ glared. "I don't like it. Just one hour, promise?"

"I swear." Harry gave his arm a sideways punch, holding the cover full of negatives, tight. "I'll pester you about my Christmas gift tomorrow."

"I'm not telling."

"Thanks, I owe you!"

DJ grumbled as Harry left the common room, heading for his dorm. He sneaked into his room, glad that Neville, Dean, and Seamus were asleep. He got his Firebolt out and jumped on it, flying out of the window under the Invisibility cloak.

He just needed to check something. That was it. He'd be back.

He reached the trees and transported himself to the grounds outside the mansion of Frost. The lights were out, which meant Sirius was either at Grimmauld Place, or staying over at Sally's.

Harry was in the house within seconds, switching on the lights in the dining room, hall and foyer. Then he rummaged through one of the cupboards in which he'd stored the dartboard and brought it out.

They hung the board on the wall opposite the kitchen. He placed it on the nail and took a few steps back, taking out the photograph to observe.

The board was on the plain wall, where the couch had been pushed back to. Right now, the same couch was further into the hall. So nothing obscured the board.

In the photograph, Percy was talking to Adam Cho, demigod son of Aphrodite. They were standing by the board, Percy's back to it. The red, yellow and black marks of the target was entirely blurred by a human sized shadow. At first glance, it might have seemed like Percy's shadow, but the light was wrong.

Harry took out the negatives. It took a while to find the right one.

Holding the negative up at eye level, he stuffed the photograph in his back pocket.

There was someone standing behind Percy. The blur had brightened to form a flash of a humanoid figure, similar to Percy and Adam. Harry could almost make out eyes in the face of the negative imprint.

The new form, the new person seemed eerily familiar.

The person was taller than Percy by a few inches. Wearing florescent white suit jacket and pants. At least, that's how the negative portrayed it. Which meant the person with roughly short hair was donned in a dark suit like clothing.

No one in the party wore anything like that. Harry would know. DJ would have known. Harry lowered the negative, palms sweating. The house suddenly felt too silent and too hot.

An Obfuscation charm, not as well as the one Sky had been in, but a good one nonetheless. It must have been hurriedly cast, since it had altered the entire image of the brightly coloured dartboard.

Something prickled at the back of his neck. Harry felt the eyes of someone staring at him.

He spun on the spot, wand and dagger out in record time, bring both weapons in offensive and defensive positions, respectively.

When he'd actually seen who was standing there, staring at him, Harry froze. "Percy?"

* * *

 **Dam, this chapter got too long! Cliffhanger, I guess. Stay tuned good fellas!**

 **Though there are various types of Concealment spells in the Wizarding World, I borrowed the specific Obfuscation charm from hgfan1111. She used to write some of the best Hinny fics I've ever read.**

 **Q: You guys take a look at the poll yet? It's on my bio page.**

 **Cabba.**


	48. Storge

**Sherlock Harry Winchester: Some action in this scene with a lot of consequences. If I'm pacing this right. Nearly every chapter after this would have some high score action.**

 **Catie Cat: You don't need an account to view the page. But if you want to vote, then yeah, you'll need an account for that. You can just suggest your opinion on a review,if you're not interested in creating an account, no worries.  
Link to my bio page (remove spaces)- ****www . fanfiction u/2851511/Cabba#**

 **As always, I love my readers, have fun with this chapter!**

 **Warning: Violence, death**

 **Listening to – Dastaan-E-Om Shanthi Om**

* * *

 _Saturday, Nov. 24; 9:30 p.m._  
 _Frost, Gretna Green, Scotland_

The bright yellow-white lights of the house were glowing strong. It was warm and cosy.

The hearth was silent. There was no soot littering the tiles beyond the fireplace. The doors seemed locked as they were before. There was no evidence to explain how Percy got into the house.

He wore a fresh camp t-shirt under his blue jacket sat on him in a way that seemed uncomfortable. It was odd. Percy's most repeated outfit was the camp t-shirt and he blue jacket, but right now, it didn't seem to suit him at all.

Harry stared at him, feeling his skin prickle. Percy was standing too still. He'd only ever seen him stand like that when they were in danger, and he was ready for battle. But they were home right now. There was no reason to be on edge.

Yet, both boys stayed still as statues, feet apart, bodies quite rigid, arms stiff, facial expressions guarded.

Harry waited for him to… say anything that reassured them. To do something that felt like the old Percy, because this scene unboxed a sense of panic that he had never felt in Percy's presence.

"Hi." Percy said at last. Harry waited, testing the silence again.

Percy walked forwards, towards the kitchen, towards Harry, swinging his backpack from his shoulders and onto the couch between them. He shrugged off the jacket, raising an eyebrow at him. Harry tried to relax.

"Hi." Harry said, breathing carefully through his nose, staying motionless.

Why was this difficult? When did it become like this? They were fine, weren't they? Why did Harry feel so on edge?

"Dude." Percy muttered. "You look terrible."

"You look no better." Harry retorted. He shoved the negative of the suspicious photograph into his pocket, trying to settle his nerves.

"Yeah, well I just came back from an unsuccessful trip, so… I have the right to sulk. What's your excuse?"

Harry shook his head, turning back to the dartboard. His stomach swooped. He didn't want to turn his back to Percy. Everything felt wrong. Everything was wrong.

"That's not ours." Percy said, walking over to stand next to Harry. On any other day, the proximity wouldn't have mattered. Only people Harry trusted could stand next to him.

Percy was holding himself too still. Harry didn't like that. Ever since they had been two years old, ever since they'd met, Percy had never been so still. He couldn't, it was involuntary.

"It's Beckendorf's." Harry frowned. Didn't Percy know that?

"I know. Why do you have it? And why is it back on the wall?"

Harry shrugged. "Just thinking. We should have a dartboard, shouldn't we? Would make the holidays more fun."

"Especially if we have to spend it in the safe house." Percy said, giving a genuine shudder at the thought of Grimmauld Place.

Harry almost smiled. There was some familiarity and he latched on to it. The tension dissipated.

"So… where'd you been?"

Just like that, the anxiety returned. Percy's jaw gave the slightest of clenches, but Harry noticed it anyway.

"I told you… I'd gone on a quest."

"By yourself?"

"I'm not dependent like you, Harry." Percy huffed. "I don't need to answer to anyone. I'd left a message, just to calm everyone."

"Yeah… you left a _post-it note_ by your bunk saying that you'll be back within a week."

"And it's been a week." Percy rolled his eyes. "This is why you have issues, Harry. It's like you want to have reasons to panic."

Harry took a step back. " _Excuse me?"_

Percy just snorted, like his words had meant to have a chiding tone. But the chill settled back into Harry's bones.

"Why are _you_ here?" Percy asked, turning to face him head on. He seemed so relaxed and unbothered by his own harsh tone.

Harry reigned in the panic. "Jus' checking something."

"Uhuh. Pretty sure everyone including the gods asked you to stay at the castle. If anyone should be judgemental here, it should be me. Why'd you come?"

"Mind your tone, Percy. It's not flattering." Harry snapped.

The colour in his eyes seemed to burn. It almost didn't look green or blue. Harry blinked. A few seconds passed. Percy leaned back, shoving his hands into his pockets. His entire body seemed relaxed, but he was definitely ready for something.

"You know we're all worried for you." Percy's voice was soft. It made the wizard cringe.

"Don't –"

"I know you feel stuck and clustered in Hogwarts, Harry. But you can't keep leaving. Sirius just wants you safe."

"You're lecturing tone is very uninformed. I stayed there for an entire week."

Percy scoffed again, "Students generally stay at Hogwarts for nine months, Harry. A week is nothing."

Harry felt his eyes twitch, "I came here for a reason."

"Which is?" Percy folded his arms, almost sceptical. Harry only glared at him. He turned back to the dartboard, trying to make up something to placate him. It was odd. He'd never thought he'd had to lie to Percy.

"I had promised to give this back to Beckendorf."

"Yes." Percy said, dryly. "I'm sure he's in agony, missing his favourite game."

Each un-Percy instance sent up red flags in Harry's mind. Percy would never make fun of his friends. He never worried them. He most certainly did not make fun of their habits. And yet, he was performing these offenses as though they meant nothing.

 _Test him._

Harry tilted his head. "Annabeth called."

Percy pressed his lips together, clearly annoyed. "What'd she say?"

"She went to Atlantis."

He frowned. Harry waited for some ridiculous response.

"Atlanta."

"Sorry?"

"You should be. You just confused Atlanta with Atlantis. She went to Atlanta."

Harry stared, trying to look a little ashamed. "Ah… sorry."

Percy frowned at him, walking back to the couch. Harry looked over to the table where some of the darts lay, heart beating fast. Percy didn't have an ounce of worry over the mention of Atlantis.

"Going over to camp, now?"

"Not yet. I came here for a break. Didn't think you'd be here, staring at a dartboard."

Harry watched him open his bag and stare into it. Percy's frown melted, and he suddenly looked up at him, from across half the room.

"Do… I mean, does anything feel off?"

The hesitance in his voice made Harry feel like _he_ was being tested.

"Feel what?"

"Anything. Like… does the air in the house put you on edge. It's making me anxious." Percy said, looking at the ceiling, as though expecting someone to be there.

The only thing making Harry anxious was Percy. It was a reality he'd never thought would happen.

"No. When was the last time you'd slept?"

Percy sighed, zipping up his bag. "Yeah… I should get to bed. So should you. It's starting to show."

Harry rubbed his eyes, trying to settle his racing heart. "Did you hear about the break-in?"

He wasn't sure why this idea popped into his head. If Percy wasn't around, he wouldn't have a clue as to what happened last week…

Percy looked suitably confused. "A break-in at Hogwarts?"

He shrugged. "We think that's what happened. The castle went on lockdown last Saturday. They said that there was a ward inspection, but no one really believes it."

Percy honestly seemed stumped by the turn in conversation. Harry tried to think of another way to startle him.

He walked over to the counter folding the sleeves of his shirt over his elbow, for better movement. Picking up one of the darts, Harry went to stand ten feet from the dartboard, trying to make it seem like he was focusing more on it, than Percy.

"So… you're not telling where you were?"

"Are you asking if I had any reason to break into Hogwarts?"

Percy didn't sound offended at all. There was a sense of humour in his words. Harry raised the dart, aimed and threw it at the board. The needle hit the third ring from the centre.

"I wasn't accusing you of anything." Harry sighed, trying to relax his shoulders as he went for another dart. "Annabeth and Nico had spent more than three days searching the vast wetlands of Atlanta –"

Percy snorted again. He approached Harry and picked up a dart.

Harry turned to look at him, "Oh please. You know I'm better than you at this. Stick to blades, Perce."

"I think…" Percy came to stand side by side, shoulders just a few inches apart. "…you'll find that I'm good with all sharp objects."

He held his arm, rather steady, before bending his elbow and throwing it in a swift move. The board actually seemed to shudder as the dart hit dead centre with no problem. The dart shook under the force of its sudden stop.

Harry could feel the sweat on his neck grow cold. He'd never known Percy to be able to aim anything right. The only time he could think of, where Percy had succeeded in aiming, was when a goddess or the other had helped to so on a quest.

His mind raced. May be a god was helping him right now. May be someone was helping him.

Because there was no way Percy could have nailed that shot on his own.

Harry realised he was holding his breath. He stared at the board, feeling the air in his lungs grow heavy. He was very aware that Percy was staring at him.

"You should have stayed at the castle."

For a bare second, Harry hadn't understood why all his instincts screamed. Then, he realised the sudden lack of a New York accent in Percy's voice.

Harry turned, throwing his arm up, just in time for Percy's palm to hit him square in the chest.

Sharp pain and power burst from the contact. Harry was blown back into the air. He crashed into the French windows, glass and wood raining down on him, as he fell onto the grass outside the house.

He had braced himself as quickly as possible, avoiding any and all fatal cuts or blows. Harry's senses were suddenly heightened, adrenaline rushing into his veins. He rolled to a stop on the grass.

Before he could even move, red light burst from the house. It hit Harry face on.

It was a stunning spell.

It didn't stun him.

Harry didn't even realise it, but green sparks coursed through his arms, swallowing up the red in front of him. He kneeled up, one arm still on the ground, entangling with the short grass. Energy coursed through him, and he looked up to find Percy standing right outside the broken windows, his entire body surrounded by red and black waves of colours.

"You're not Percy." Harry whispered, horror hitting him.

The person wearing the face of his brother, chuckled. "Took you long enough."

The unfamiliar British accent in Percy's voice cut through the roaring in his ears. Harry had heard that tone before. That vibe filled with cynicism. It was densely familiar.

" _Protego!_ " He yelled, just in time for another curse that barrelled his way. A wizard. It was a wizard.

Harry rolled away, trying to escape the range of the attack. With a flick of his hand, he sent the grass roots, barraging out of the mud and climbing over the steps and into the house.

The imposter performed a slicing charm, cutting the roots. It burnt Harry's body to feel the pain, but he'd expected that. It had meant to be a distraction.

" _Accio!"_ The spell was aimed at the partially broken doors of the French windows. It was strong enough that the heavy wooden frames were yanked off their hinges. They collided into the imposter hard enough to break bone.

Harry leaped to his feet to avoid another spell. The rage in Percy's face was so startling that it nearly caught him off guard.

" _Engorgio!"_ He slammed his palms into the ground, causing the grass blades to grow rapidly into long vines. The imposter grunted, losing balance as his feet were pulled by the vines.

Harry took out his wand to try and stun him, but he ducked down, only to face more grass.

The imposter yelled something and Harry's blood turned to ice, hearing the horrifying hiss of words tumbling out of his mouth.

He was speaking Parseltongue.

Someone disguised as Percy was a Parselmouth.

He wasn't disguised as him. It was him. It was Percy, but someone was… controlling his body.

The diary Ginny wrote in…

Seven horcruxes?

 _We know that Voldemort's in Germany…_

"… _it's more about how people are making connections of strange healing abilities and magical ward trespassing properties." Zach told him._

" _I can't walk through wards." Harry said._

" _We know. We're asking if you knew anyone who could."_

Percy broke into the attic in Grimmauld Place without even trying. Even the basement. He was naturally inclined to open… things…

He could walk through the wards.

He stole the ring and the map.

He… killed Crouch?

No. Not, Percy.

Harry was so stunned, he didn't even check what the imposter had spoken in parseltongue. It was a bare second's reprieve before fire hit his extremities, flooding his body with terror and pain. It was like _Crucio_ but this –

The grounds were on fire. Harry fell on the earth, screaming and writhing, watching out of his half-closed eyes, the sharp orange flames that lit up the night.

It was Voldemort. Harry was sure. But he couldn't think straight. He was still connected to the charred grass.

 _Withdraw, pull the shield down!_

Harry wrenched himself from the plant systems, shutting down his chlorokinesis. That was the word Katie Gardner had used when she'd tried describing his magic in demigod terms.

His wand had fallen while his hands twitched wildly. He couldn't move. Harry groaned, trying to shuffle onto his side, but the world swam in and out of his gaze. His head was heavy and he felt nausea swirl in the pit of his stomach. Smoke was thick in the air and it made his lungs panic and his eyes tear up. The pain was combined with the fear now. He couldn't move.

Someone grabbed his loosened tie, pulling him up by an inch. The grip around his neck nearly choked him.

Red eyes were looking right at him. Harry tried to blink again, but he felt like his entire body had been burnt along with the green.

"Voldemort." Harry whispered, hoarsely.

The smile on Percy's face was grotesque. Harry would never forget this.

Voldemort said something. It was in the snake language but Harry understood nothing of it.

"Can't…" he tried to say.

The frown on Percy's face made him think of the photograph in his pocket. No, it wasn't exactly Voldemort, it was Tom Riddle. Just like the diary.

There had to be something that connected Percy to the… horcrux. Some tangible item. Harry blinked again, opening his eyes properly this time.

Percy… no, Tom was poking at his hair, pushing it aside to stare at his nearly faded lightning shaped scar. Harry tried to flinch away, but the grip on his tie was adamant.

"Impossible." Tom whispered. "How… oh."

He seemed to have understood something that Harry didn't. While Tom stared at his forehead, disbelief plain on his face, Harry curled the fingers on his left hand, inwards, summoning his dagger from his bracelet.

Exhaling quickly, he brought his entire arm up in a swift move, the sharp blade aimed for Percy's hand.

Tom moved, too fast to even be human. He caught Harry's wrist a centimetre away from his own hand that had a hold on his tie.

"You need to be faster." Tom said, the wicked smile back on his face. He twisted Harry's wrist, slammed it back on the ground and yanked his upper body up.

With burst of red light, Harry found himself flying again. He hit the pillar of the verandah, breaking chunks from the column. Harry still had his iron skin and the marble ground cracked as he fell on it. But the pain from the fire still burnt his body in the after effect.

Harry cried out in frustration. Tom was in Percy's head. There had to be something solid that connected them. Like the diary.

Harry raised his head, looked into the house and spotted Percy's backpack sitting innocuously by his blue jacket on the couch.

" _Bombarda!"_ His shout was echoed by a shrill sound of fury from Percy/Tom. His wandless spell manifested in a sharp green light that surged from his hands and flew into the house, slammed into the bag and exploding all of its contents into the living room.

Several things hit the floor with clanging noises.

He spotted the ring, tiny and sharp, bouncing on the tiles. The Marauders' Map and a familiar and torn book fluttered onto the foyer. A metal head band hit the wall, some clothes and papers fell to the floor in tatters.

Tom used Percy to steal the map, Harry realised. He'd summoned the map to the wards and Percy…

Tom had summoned the map…

Tom's magic would be all over it.

Harry tried to get to his feet, but the shadow that fell over the ground beside him sent his body into overdrive. He cast another shield spell, while rolling away again.

Tom's curse blasted the spot he'd just been in, leaving nothing but a crater. Harry gasped, choking on the smoke that still arose from the burnt ground.

If he could get the map to someone, to Sirius or Dumbledore, they'd know.

He needed to save Percy, though. He needed to find –

He raised his hand to point at the ceiling above Tom, yelling another blasting curse. Half the first floor broke and fell in loud pieces, crashing around Tom.

Percy's eyes burned with a fury. He dodged one particularly large piece of concrete and marble before pushing them all away from him and towards Harry.

Harry got to his feet, ran and skid into the kitchen for cover, yelling " _Aberto!"_

All the drawers sung open, its multiple contents flying out. Several piles of dishes, glasses, bottles, spices, food cans, and cutlery flew into the air and headed for Tom.

A growl nearly burst from Percy's throat as all the items simply stopped in mid-air. Harry swore leaped out of the way to avoid a barrage of everyday items turned weapons.

He was able to get up to rush towards the stairs, narrowly avoiding the various cracks in the air that hinted at a spell which must have crashed right behind him.

The light above him flickered. It was his only warning.

The chandelier from the third floor fell. Harry yelled, diving out of the way and avoiding the crunch of glass and electricity. He fell on the carpet right by the stairs.

Tom rushed in waving an arm, almost lazily, which was a contrast to the fury in Percy's face.

Limbs shaking, Harry stood up, to face him across the fallen chandelier.

"How'd you do this?" Harry panted, knowing that he needed a minute's reprieve. The best way to get a break during a duel with Tom, was to get him to talk about his master plan.

Percy's head tilted by a fraction. Harry gritted his teeth, feeling rage bubble up in his throat. It was such a Tom move.

"Since when?" Harry tried prompting him. "It couldn't have been long, or we'd have noticed –"

"Oh, please!" Tom spat, laughing. "I've been here for months! _Nobody_ noticed."

Bile was making its way up again. Harry tried to swallow the burn. "No. How'd you get to Percy? He was supposed to be safe. He was… he's a demigod, _Tom!_ Do you know who you're dealing with?!"

Tom walked around the chandelier, almost relaxed. Harry saw his fingers convulse like he was rapidly playing the piano.

"I'm no fool to cross the gods." Tom said. "No, I'm not going to do anything to Percy. You should be worried about yourself, Harry. You are fair game."

Another stunning spell shot out and Harry dodged it, practically flying back into the hall. He reached the couch, ducked when the air above him grew hot. The impeding spell shattered the window beside the main door.

He dived behind the couch, finding his fallen Firebolt. The Invisibility Cloak lay in a heap right beside it. He picked it up, feeling the soft material, and coming up with a risky plan.

"You're not walking out of this house, Harry. You're a little too early for my plans, but no matter. I can accommodate that."

Tom sounded giddy and confident. Harry made a small whistling sound. His Firebolt hovered a few inches off the floor. He flicked his head in Tom's general direction.

The Firebolt flew and headed towards Tom at lethal speeds. He ducked to the side, sending a wave of energy right through the air. It hit the broom and broke it into two pieces with a thunderclap that screeched in Harry's ears.

Harry barely had time to feel the shock and panic again, before he jumped across the carpet to reach the map.

" _Deporto!_ " This time, black light emerged from his hands, illuminating the cloak which he threw over the map and the book. Tom screamed again, but it had worked.

The light vanished and all three items were gone.

Harry's split second victory was dampened when he felt another curse hit him from behind. His iron skin fell away as he flew up and slammed at the corner of the ceiling, this time feeling something break in his body. He cried out in delirious pain, falling against the wall in a graceless heap.

Percy's red eyes were the only warning he had before something struck him in the chest. Except it didn't just strike him, it went right through his torso, nearly impaling him to the wall.

He choked. The pain that should have burst from this wasn't has coarse as he expected. He just couldn't feel his chest…

Oh.

The broken and sharp chunk of one of the pieces of his Firebolt was firmly lodged in him. Harry coughed, feeling heavy liquid pool into his lungs.

The numbness was just the shock. Harry tried to suck in a breath, but his body wasn't complying. Something was burning again. He was in pain. He couldn't think. He couldn't see –

His tie was yanked up again, and Percy's face blurred in and out of his vision. The red eyes were constant though.

 _What did you do?"_ Tom hissed, shaking him. "Where did you send them?!"

Harry couldn't even hear the questions clearly. The pain was loud. It consumed him like flames. The heaviness was trying to take over. He tried to raise his hands to feel his chest, but he could only feel the wetness that was pooling over his white shirt, which didn't seem white anymore.

"Per…" Harry reached a deadweight, aching hand up towards Tom. He could see the camp necklace that sat around Percy's neck mockingly. He tried to pull at it and succeeded in yanking it away, breaking the thread. The four beads fell, bouncing on the ground, scattering away under the debris.

Tom sounded enraged, though. That should cheer Harry up, but he couldn't think though the haze of the agony.

And he drifted away from the pain.

* * *

 _Saturday, Nov. 24; 5:00 p.m.  
Dynasty Apartment, Manhattan_

Rachel had had soccer practice until three in the afternoon. So, naturally, she came home and fell into bed, ready to sleep for the next fifteen hours.

Except she woke up at five in the evening.

She sat up, confused. It wasn't like wasn't tired. She could still feel the muscle ache in her limbs. She wasn't all that hungry.

Why did Rachel wake up?

She sighed, rubbing her eyes and trying to cuddle into her comforter again. Her eyes closed but her mind wandered.

She thought of shadowy tendrils like a tattered flag flying in the ice cold wind. She imagined a bony hand…. No, a damp, rotting skinny hand, reaching through the torn flag which had transformed into torn clothes. Black robes that covered a haunting figure which hovered over the ground. It made a horrifying rattling sound like it was trying to suck in air to breath, but it's lungs were filled with water.

It wasn't a person. It was a monster. Its red eyes glowed against the skull eyes, hooded eyes. It must have been beautiful once. It was dead now. It was not itself. The figure stood in a room of gold. There were sounded of coins falling.

The dragon fire woke her up again. Rachel shrieked, clutching her pillow tight, body shivering from the strange frost of her dream. It had only been odd shapes and colours, but it had terrified her.

Bolt was awake too. She leaned up and pressed her nose in Rachel's hair.

"Nightmare?"

"Sort of." She sighed. Swinging her legs out of bed, she stood up, wishing for a dreamless sleep. "My mind's a mess."

Bolt turned into a puppy and leapt up to her. Rachel caught the tiny body, giggling in the warmth of her room. She was safe in her house. Nothing to be afraid of, here.

She stood there for a bit, waiting for something.

"What?" Bolt asked.

Rachel blinked. "Does… something feel off?"

Bolt leaned back, nose quivering. "Probably the nightmare."

She held her puppy close. She could feel something in the air. An uneasiness that made her skin crawl. For a moment, she looked down at her limbs, almost expecting there to be the strange and wonderful colours dancing over her body, but there was nothing.

Rachel frowned. She hated the feeling. Something truly felt bad. The more she dwelt on it, the twitchier she felt.

Making up her mind, she picked up her mirror and held it up to say in a clear voice, "DJ Potter."

Her reflection disappeared and the mirror instead, showed her complete darkness. Rachel peered in, feeling worried. "DJ?"

"Here!" DJ yelped. His voice was slightly filtered. There was some rummaging till, Rachel could see some brightness peek into the mirror. A hand came forward and snatched the mirror out of the bag it had been in. DJ's sleepy face came into view.

"Hey. Hey, Rachel. What's up?"

"Hey, DJ. Nothing much. I just felt… odd. I dunno. Everything okay, over there?"

DJ blinked, looking a little more awake. "Um, sure. Yeah. What d'you mean odd?"

Rachel shrugged. "Just a feeling."

DJ suddenly looked tense. "Did you have a dream?"

"May be. I can't really remember it. Were you asleep in the common room?"

"Yeah, I just… I was waiting…um, Ron and Hermione are here too!"

DJ swung the mirror around to show her a sight of two people who had fallen asleep on each other. Rachel couldn't help her smile. She recalled Ginny telling her about the massive under-the-table betting the castle had on Ron and Hermione. That was right before the witch had tried to read Rachel's palm, a feat that just had the both of them giggling.

"Why are you blushing?" DJ asked, slowly.

"Hmm, no reason. Just finished practice. What time is it over there?"

"Just past ten. Yeah, we just turn in, I guess –"

"Wait." Rachel interrupted him, frowning. "Where's Harry?"

Harry was usually with Ron and Hermione, rolling his eyes behind them. But if they were in the common room, asleep along with DJ, waiting for him…

Her cousin froze, the look of guilt so intense in his face, that Rachel wanted to shriek.

"DJ!"

"He promised he'll be back! It's okay –"

"It's not okay! I made him swear to not go anywhere alone! That little shit!" Rachel cried, feeling like hyperventilating. Bolt climbed on her shoulders as she held the sides of the mirror so hard, she swore it made a creaking sound.

"He promised one hour – "

"DJ, no! Call him now! I don't want him wandering anywhere, especially at night!"

DJ hesitated. "Okay. Yeah, I'll do that. But his mirror is with Annabeth at camp."

"Do you know where he went?"

"… not really."

Rachel groaned. Damn him! She'd told him, she'd specifically, made him promise not to go out for the castle, especially at night. Why couldn't Harry just stay put? He and Percy were recipes for disaster.

"He said he'll be back within the hour?"

"Yeah."

"Call me when he does. He's not getting away with it, this time."

DJ swallowed, looking vaguely terrified of her. Good. If only Harry could cultivate a similar response, they'd all be hunky dory.

She cut the call and groaned again, her grip on the mirror tightening even further.

The mirror nearly bent before breaking completely.

Rachel gasped, dropping the two pieces. Glass dust glittered in the air around her shivering hands. She stepped back to stare at the pieces, its jagged edges having hit her carpeted floor with soft thuds.

* * *

 _Saturday, Nov. 24; 10:00 p.m.  
Hogwarts, Scotland_

DJ wouldn't want to be Harry when Rachel got a hold of him. Looking forward to witness her rip a new one into him, he stood up from the sofa, yawning. He'd nearly fallen asleep after Harry had left. It was odd. He could usually stay awake well after ten.

DJ walked across the room to wake up Ron and Hermione. After a bit of poking and yelling, they were up, groaning at him. He got a cushion in his face for his heroic deed.

"Urgh! What? Is he back?" Ron sighed, scratching his arm.

"No. He's out." DJ said.

Hermione blinked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "Out where? With Dumbledore?"

"I wish. No, he left like, half hour ago."

The fifth years gaped at him. DJ winced when Ron stood up, towering over him.

"What? Again!"

"Yeah…"

Hermione sighed. "Why, Harry?"

"He said he found something in the photos he had to check out." DJ looked back at the table which had his school bag on it. The party photos had been safely placed in them.

"What photos?"

"The ones Colin took. The ones from the party."

"They're here?" Ron looked excited.

"Yeah." DJ sighed. "Sky was under an Obfuscation charm."

"Sky? Harry's Sky?" Hermione asked, interested. DJ grinned, reaching for his bag to bring out the photos.

He gave them the pack and they went through it, 'Oohing' at the various images. It wasn't late at all, but DJ still wanted to just go to sleep.

"That's an exceptionally cast spell." Hermione muttered, observing the photo of Harry and Sky in the kitchen.

"Wow." Ron said, looking over her shoulder. "Harry really likes him. Haven't seen him smile that for anyone."

"Too bad he's an intruder, who may have been sent by the Titan army to spy on us." DJ muttered. "Or else, I would have liked to meet him."

Hermione set the photo down, looking incensed now. "Why on earth would he have to leave the castle while we're under high alert?"

"I told you. He said he –"

"I know, I know! I just – urgh, when he comes back, I'm going to let him have a piece of my mind."

DJ nearly laughed. "You'll have to wait in line."

All three teens practically jumped out of their skins when one of the windows suddenly whited out. As in, something crashed into it and began hurriedly tapping on the glass pane.

DJ stared. "Hedwig?"

Even through the closed and locked window, they could hear her screeching. Ron surged forwards to let her in. Hedwig soared into the room, landing hard on DJ's outstretched arm. He stared in shock. He had never seen her so distraught.

Hedwig started to shriek, hooting wildly and flapping her winds, feathers hitting him in the face.

"Woah!" he cried, jerking back. "What's wrong, Hedwi –"

She grabbed his shirt by her talons, trying to pull him towards the window. DJ knew that if she was strong enough, she might have carried him out of the tower.

"She's panicking." Hermione whispered, staring at the owl, kicking up a racket in the room. DJ was sure that someone would wake up hearing all the noise.

Another owl flew in through the open window. DJ's own pet, Garth, a smaller brown feathered owl landed on the headrest of the sofa to avoid Hedwig's tantrum. He turned his large black eyes towards DJ, fixing him with a solemn stare.

DJ felt his heart skip a beat. Something was wrong.

"I'll go get McGonagall." Hermione said, still staring at Hedwig in worry.

"I'll go with you." Ron said, in the same stunned tone.

DJ waited in the common room with a quietly worried Garth, and a hysteric Hedwig. He received a lot of scratches and cuts from his futile efforts to calm her. Within ten minutes, Hermione and Ron climbed through the Portrait hole with their Head of the House, McGonagall, in tow. She had a robe over her sleepwear, looking quite ready to viciously protect her students like a Mama Bear.

"Don't tell her to calm down." DJ advised her. McGonagall stretched out her arm and Hedwig immediately flew towards her, perching on the limb, still hooting mournfully.

"And Potter hasn't told you where he'd planned to go?" She asked him, tightly. DJ shook his head. Ron and Hermione must have told her all they knew about Harry's leave.

McGonagall pressed her lips together. "That boy… okay, Hedwig. Show us."

The owl, instead of turning to fly through the window, turned her head to face the portrait hole. McGonagall followed her lead and walked out of the common room, descending the stairs.

DJ looked at Ron and Hermione before following her. Garth flew to land on DJ's shoulder, unusually quiet, but as always comforting.

Hedwig lead the party towards the main door of the castle on the ground floor. McGonagall let out a sigh, taking out her wand and waving it towards the ceiling. A bright silver cat burst out, translucent and graceful. It floated down to the floor and ran right through the wall, blue and white wisps curling into nothingness.

"Go back to the tower." She said, conjuring another patronus to accompany them. "I don't another student outside this castle, understand?"

"Yes, professor." All three intoned, recognizing the fury under her steady voice.

All the way back to the tower, DJ thought about Hedwig's panic. Owls were intelligent. They knew their owners, sometimes, better than the people knew themselves. And Hedwig was cleverer than the regular trained owl. If something had happened to Harry. She would be the first to know.

* * *

 _Saturday, Nov. 24; 5:30 p.m.  
Jacksons' Apartment, Manhattan_

On a rare day to themselves, Sally watched Sirius struggle to boil plain noodles. She sat at the table, chin leaning on her palms.

When she'd reached home from her classes, she had stumbled in on Sirius trying to surprise her with dinner. Sally knew that he would be exhausted from his day's work, even if it was a Sunday. The fact that he always kept trying to help around the house, made her fall even more in love with him.

Sirius was definitely her brand of the bad boy type. Someone who didn't care about upturning how many ever tables he could to do the right thing by his friends and family. There was an art to causing chaos, and her boyfriend knew how to accomplish it.

The chaos right now was that he'd managed to burn water and leave uncooked stiff noodles in the pan. A master piece, indeed.

Sally got up, laughing as she approached him. She brought her arms around his waist, hugging him from behind. They were nearly the same height, something she appreciated very much.

"Sorry." Sirius murmured. "We may have to order in. Again."

"Don't worry about it."

"But you should have home cooked food." He insisted. "We can't always buy it."

Sally kissed him on the nape of his neck. "We can try again later. Besides, I doubt noodles made out of refined flour can be categorised as home cooked."

"Half way home cooked." Sirius amended.

"It's definitely half way cooked." She giggled.

He turned his head around and she leaned in to kiss him. Her entire body fluttered. She felt like she could rise from the floor and shoot into the sky.

The door to the apartment opened carelessly, almost hitting the wall. Sally frowned, but then wondered if it was Percy. She leapt away from Sirius, rushing out of the kitchen to run into red faced Nico.

The boy was sweating, hair damp like he'd spent the entire day outside under the hot sun. He looked intense and worried, running into his room and slamming the door.

"Nico!" Sally called, feeling uneasy at his sudden entrance. "Are you okay?"

He didn't answer. She couldn't hear any noise from the room. Sally turned around to meet Sirius' curious gaze.

His mirror on the table rang out. Kingsley Shacklebolt's voice called, "Sirius Black!"

Sally watched as he reached for the mirror, frowning into Kingsley's face. "King. What –"

"Are you at Sally's? Is Harry with you?"

Sally knew that no matter how calm or comforting Kingsley could have been, nothing would prevent the sudden panic in Sirius when it concerned Harry's whereabouts.

"No! He isn't here! He's supposed to be at the castle!"

"He's not there. Harry left right about 9:30, after meeting with Dumbledore. DJ thinks he might be at camp, but he just called Percy's girlfriend, she has no clue either."

Sirius let out an enraged groan. "That boy is grounded till the turn of the century! I told him not to leave!"

"Sirius." Kingsley called again. Sally's heart practically thundered, when she saw his face turn down. She'd never seen him look so pressured. King was usually the person who could calm the room, when Dumbledore himself couldn't.

"Come to the castle. We need to talk." He told Sirius.

Sirius swallowed, face growing pale. He gave a stiff nod, cutting the call and closing his eyes.

Sally caught his wrist. "We'll find him. Wherever he is, Harry knows to come back."

Sirius looked like he wanted to yell at something. She was glad he held in his temper. If he yelled, she would panic, and would definitely throw up. She felt sick enough as it was.

"I'll call when we find him. And you can tell him how much trouble he's going to be in, because I'll just shout at him again."

Sally kissed him on the cheek and watched him leave through the hearth. As soon as the green flames died, she leaned against the door jamb of the kitchen, pressing a palm over her throbbing temple.

Then she remembered Nico.

Sally went towards his room, standing outside his door. "Nico? Are you alright, honey?"

He didn't answer her. She still couldn't hear any noise. Sally frowned, pressing closer to the door. She leaned her ear on the painted wood.

Nico let out a sob. Her stomach turned at the sound and she felt sick. She knocked again.

"Nico, please open this door." She said, trying not to sound too nauseous. "Are… are you hungry? We can order in. Whatever you want, okay?"

There was a sniffle and Sally wanted to cry right there, but she heard a small shuffling sound before the door cracked open.

Nico's eyes were red and swollen, still wet. He wasn't just sweaty, he'd been crying.

"Sweetheart!" Sally cupped his face, already distressed. "What happened? Are you hurt? Were you attacked?"

He shook his head as she asked. "N…not me."

His whisper caught her off. The anguish in him was contagious. Sally felt light headed. "Oh gods… is it Percy? What… where is he?!"

"No, no. It's not… it's not Percy… I don't know… where he is." Nico hiccupped as he struggled through the sentence. He clutched at his chest and Sally stared at his hands which clawed at the front of his shirt.

"Are you in pain?"

"I… think so. But Harry's dead."

Sally's mind stuttered to a halt.

"What?"

"Harry… he died." Nico whispered, blinking tears away. "I tried… I tried to find him, but… he's not in the lobby. I tried searching the website, but there's nothing about him there! I don't know where he is! He isn't here! He died and he was in so much pain! I can't find him!"

Nico's breathing went shallow and Sally gripped his shoulders, feeling a wave of nausea.

That couldn't be true. Nico had probably been dreaming. How would he know, anyway…?

She stared at the son of Hades. Leaning down, Sally whispered, "Nico, I need you to take in a deep breath."

"I… I can't!"

"Yes, you can." She kneeled down as Nico buried his face in his arms. His entire body was shuddered under the pain.

"Look at me. Look at me, Nico. See my hand? I'm gonna press your chest and you're gonna inhale." Sally didn't think about Harry. She pushed Percy out of her mind, and tried to forget about the baby. She focused on the hyperventilating child in front of her, who looked moments away from a full-fledged panic attack.

She placed her hand on his chest, putting the slightest bit of pressure on it. He grabbed her fingers, eyes tightly closed. He was in pain.

"Inhale." Sally said, a little stern.

Nico gave another hiccup, before doing his best to suck in air.

"Good. Hold it for a bit."

He clamped his mouth shut. His shoulders shook.

"Exhale." She said. The hand on his shoulder squeezed him gently, her thumb moving circles.

Nico let out his breath in a whoosh.

"Let's do that again. Inhale."

They repeated it a few times, till Nico was breathing well. He still shook as she stood up. Sally led him back into his room, helping him sit on his bed.

"Nico." She said as softly as she could. He swallowed, looking at her, so guiltily that her heart ached.

"Did you dream about Harry?"

"No. I swear, I was at the park with Ash and Gil and Denise. We were just hanging out and then I could hear he screaming –"

"Hear…?"

"It…" Nico sniffed again. "It was real. I swear. Something was wrong with his chest. Harry couldn't breathe and he was bleeding."

"You saw this?" She whispered.

"No. No, I couldn't… I could just feel him. I… I feel people when they die." He answered. "I can hear them in my head. I heard Harry. But I checked the lobby and he wasn't there."

"What lobby?"

"Charon's lobby. The Underworld. That's where the departed souls go, for judgement, but he wasn't there."

Sally leaned back, unable to articulate anything. Nico was convinced that Harry was dead.

"When did you feel this?" She asked.

"Just a while back." Nico looked less uncontrolled and more urgent. "After the lobby I went to camp and then to Frost, but I couldn't find him!"

Sally saw the intensity in his eyes and felt the pain in his words. But something struck her oddly.

"Nico… are you talking about his soul?"

"Yes!" he cried. "I can't find him anywhere!"

That didn't make any sense to Sally. Dimply, she knew that it was the shock that still had her sitting there almost calm, but the moment reality hit her –

"He can't die." She whispered. That bracelet. The Third Task at the Triwizard Tournament, the incident in Rome…

Nico stared at her. "But… his soul can't stay with the body when he's dead. It has to be somewhere in the Underworld."

"Did you search the entire place?" She asked, feeling an inkling of the pain start to set in. Sally was either going to throw up or scream.

Nico gawked. "Um… no. Just the lobby. But it has thousands of souls, I thought… if he is there…"

He trailed off, thinking hard. "But where could he be? He can't be in the mortal realm."

Sally blinked. Nico voice seemed to be coming to her through a tunnel. Viscous spots appeared in her sight.

Option three: faint. She did just that.

* * *

 _Saturday, Dec 1; 9:00 a.m.  
London_

The UK had posted a red alert signal all through the wizarding world in west Europe. The news of Harry's disappearance sent the public into a frenzy. Cedric's parents told him that it was starting to look like the start of the first war against Voldemort.

His last letter from Cho let him know that none of the demigods knew a thing about this either. Percy had apparently said that he hadn't seen Harry since the infamous party.

Cedric had just left his parents' house, apparating to the yard outside the little apartment he shared with Zach. It was a cold Saturday morning. The weather indicated that it could snow any say now. Cedric's breath turned to mist in front of his face as he walked through the door, and tapping his boots to get rid of the snow.

Zach was in the tiny kitchen, kneeling by the hearth. Cedric rushed in when he saw Tonks's face in the flames.

"Priority Order." Zach told Cedric, who kneeled beside him to stare at a sombre Tonks.

"We got a tip from Dung." Tonks said, hurriedly. "Meet us at the safe house, at noon."

"What about the Auror office?" Cedric asked. "Dawlish won't let –"

"King will deal with him. Headmaster wants all of us there and Sirius will drag you out if you don't show up."

"Got it." Zach said.

The flames died down and Cedric sat back on his heels.

"Think this has to do with the map?" He asked Zach.

Zach stood up to lean by the table. "Could be. King said that all reports on the map turned out positive, remember?"

Cedric winced. That had been harsh news. The Marauders' Map had been found right outside the gates of Hogwarts along with a shockingly, destroyed book, both of articles wrapped in Harry's Invisibility Cloak. Everyone knew about the map, ever since authorities had examined it after the Tournament last year. Cedric knew how much in demand its magic would have been and hadn't been all that shocked when they found out it had been stolen.

However, it **was** shocking that the person who had personally stolen it, turned out to be Voldemort himself. After the professors found it, nearly a week ago, Dumbledore had examined the artefact, stating that he could sense only two signature magic trails over it. One had been Harry's, of course. He was the one to have banished it to the castle.

The other had been Voldemort's.

Which meant that Harry had run into Voldemort.

And after a week of silence, Cedric didn't want to think how they'd find him, if they ever did.

All the public knew was that Harry had disappeared without a trace. Nothing about the map, or Voldemort had been leaked yet, and Cedric could only imagine the pandemonium if everyone found out.

The two Auror trainees left for work soon, and when it was close to twelve, they apparated from the Ministry to the front step of Grimmauld Place.

"Heads, its good news. Tails, it's bad." Zach muttered. They stepped into the cold hallway, keeping as silent as possible as they walked across the hidden portraits.

"Heads." Cedric whispered as they reached the kitchen. He was not about to lose hope.

Sirius, Sally, Tonks, Alice, Frank, Mundungus, McGonagall, Snape and Dumbledore were already assembled around the table.

Cedric and Zach sat beside Frank. The man gave them a short nod, summoning two mugs of hot tea from the counter.

"Thanks." Zach sighed in gratitude.

They'd barely taken a few sips when Tonks stumbled in, nearly tripping over the small steps. Kinglsey steadied her, without even looking.

"Make it quick, Dung." Sirius said. Cedric saw that exhaustion had wreaked his face. He hadn't shaven in over a week, his skin having grown pale under his eyes. He held Sally's hand as though she was the only reason why he wasn't already wringing Dung's neck for answers.

"I found Kreacher." The man muttered, eyes flitting from Sirius to Dumbledore.

Cedric frowned in confusion.

"You… what?" Sirius asked, completely taken off guard.

" 'E's dead." Dung continued, still nervous. "Found 'im in Knockturn Alley. Beside Grogo's pub."

"He disappeared weeks ago." Tonks whispered. The kitchen was in stunned silence.

"Yeah. And 'e'd been dead fer weeks. Grogo 'as the one 'oo told me 'is name. We just found 'em, 'ead bashed in, 'alf a dozen butterbeer bottles beside 'im."

Butterbeer?

"Is this a house elf?" Zach asked.

"My house elf." Sirius muttered, still wide eyed. "He… shit."

"Sounds like he drank himself to a stupor and walked into something." Snape said.

"May be." Dung shook his head, feeling invigorated that no one had threatened him yet. "But I found 'arry's wand with 'im."

"WHAT?!" Sirius roared, nearly jumping over the table to grab Dung around the neck. "WHY DIDN'T YOU OPEN WITH THAT?!"

"Sirius!" Alice dislodged his grip, pushing him away.

"That's it!" Dung gasped, clutching his neck. "I just found 'is wand!"

"How did you know it was Harry's?" McGonagall asked, steel eyed.

Dung paled. "I… I… checked… I did that tracer spell… it still 'ad the trace on it, and since I was at the Alley, I dropped in to Turner's, they sell second 'and wands, and they told me it was an Ollivander original – Holly and Phoenix feather, eleven inches. And I only knew wun person with a wand like that!"

Alice frowned. "The tracer spell is illegal."

Dung swallowed, nervous, "But I wus undercover for the Order… so…"

"It is his wand." Dumbledore confirmed, quietly from the corner. "I have checked it."

He waved his hand, conjuring a wooden box. He slid the box to Sirius who opened it. Cedric saw the captured wand, nestled in black satin.

Sirius exhaled, fists clenching. He looked up at the Headmaster, "Are you saying Harry went to Knockturn Alley?"

"No." Dumbledore replied. "I believe Tom Riddle is the vigilante who stole the diary and the ring from my office. But he was found by Crouch Jr. while he was sneaking into the castle through the entrance in Zonko's cellar. He had no idea that Mad Eye was been masqueraded by the Death Eater. Tom also broke into the castle to steal the map. He was the one who killed Fawkes, when my Familiar found him near the grounds."

"And Rita Skeeter?" Zach asked, after the table had listened in silence.

"The motive and magic trails differ greatly. She remains an anomaly."

Frank let out a sigh as though he knew how Sirius was going to react to that.

"And you haven't found any clue as to where Harry mght be right now?"

"May be your nephew would give us better answers." Snape said, directing a sneer towards Sally.

Sally glared. "I've said it once, I'll say it again. He can only feel the death as it happens. He doesn't know who did it, why, or even how."

"Not a very specific power."

"It's more than you will ever accomplish with your life, Snivellus." Sirius snapped. "At least we know that Harry's not… _dead_ dead."

That was still a fact Cedric couldn't swallow. Apparently, Harry couldn't stay dead. Something about a cursed bracelet.

Everyone in the Order had been sworn to secrecy about it. They knew that Harry was dead. It was something the public, not even the Ministry, could find out.

The Order also knew that Harry would come back sometime soon. Which meant they needed to find the body before he woke up somewhere completely unfamiliar. Hopefully, they'd be able to find him before anyone else could.

"But if Voldemort killed him, wouldn't he make that fact known?" Alice asked, still frowning at Snape.

"I said Tom." Dumbledore looked at them over his half-moon glasses. "Not Voldemort."

"Right, because they're different?" Sirius muttered into the table. He had put his head down, shoulders tense like he wanted to punch someone (Snape).

"I have told you about the diary." Dumbledore said.

Cedric recalled that story. When he and Zach had been in their fifth year, the incidents with the Basilisk had cropped about because of Voldemort's, sorry, Tom Riddle's diary. A piece of magic that held the potential of the wizard himself.

"Are we looking at possession again?" McGonagall asked quietly.

"Most likely. But I would not put it past him to gain enough power to work independently."

"So, it's Tom Riddle, before he was Voldemort." Sally confirmed.

"Yes."

"Why do you think he's striking now? He's had years, if this artefact that could hold a piece of him can last decades."

Dumbledore shook his head. "I cannot be sure of the particulars. Even my guess at why he is hunting down the other artefacts of himself, is sketchy at best. He may or may not be working with Voldemort."

Cedric nearly smiled. "Even he would hate himself."

Sirius raised his head. "How. Will. This. Help. Us. Find. Harry?"

"You think Harry found him." Alice said suddenly, looking up from the wand in front of Sirius. "He found _Tom_ , or whoever _Tom_ may be possessing."

"That is a good possibility."

"No." Sirius stood up. "No. We traced his trail, it lead us right to Frost. You saw the grounds, someone had _burned_ the grass out. And with the wards, he wouldn't have been able to leave to get to the trees outside. We checked the house, there was a lot of hidden evidence that magic was used, we just don't know what exactly."

"Except that it was powerful and destructive." Frank added. "It had to have been a duel. Harry might have tried to destroy the house to make it all the more harder for Tom to fix it. The more magic he used, the less he could hide it under masking and concealment charms."

"He died in your house?" Snape asked. "Then make a list of the number of people who can enter the mansion."

"People can break in."

"Isn't that what the wards are for?"

"But if this version of Tom can simply walk through wards –"

Cedric leaned back against his chair, sharing a look with Zach. He'd hoped they would have a lead to finding Harry, but clearly that wasn't the case.

But it was Alice's point that had him most concerned. If Tom had succeeded in killing Harry, then why wouldn't he want to make it public knowledge? Was it because he knew Harry could come back? Did he not want people knowing that Voldemort's no. 1 enemy could not be killed?

That would be the easiest answer. But then why kill him? If Tom was powerful, why wouldn't he just stun him?

Unless Harry was powerful too and could stand his own against him.

Cedric smiled. Harry would give his enemies no other way to put him down other than killing him. And even then, it would never work.

* * *

 _Saturday, Dec 1; 5:00 p.m.  
Hogsmeade, Scotland_

They found him in the trees. Because, Tom loved the irony. The owner of Hog's Head, Aberforth had heard his customers shrieking and running away from behind the pub, which was where he'd thrown out few nosy no-gooders trying to stir up trouble inside. A crowd of witches and wizards had gone outside to watch the drunken duel in eagerness, and none of them had expected to see the body of Harry Potter propped up against a tree, resembling a cold, pale, bruised and broken doll.

With a gaping hole in his chest.

* * *

 **That was fun. Stay tuned, this story is going to be done before New Year. I mean, New Year within the story, not 2018-19 New Year. This story is set in 2012, btw.**

 **Q: If Harry has healing abilities, who do you think has destructive abilities?**

 **Cabba.**


	49. We are Our Choices

**A: Harry's healing abilities is contrasted to Percy's destructive abilities. But it isn't a fixed thing. They don't exist outside of others'influences, so their powers are balanced between all their friends and family. (Family is a major theme in these stories.)**

 **Lady among the trees: Hi there, nice penname. Ginny is a very good guess and she would definitely suit that role.**

 **brade1991: Yup, that's the right answer. In my opinion, it's too common to see Percy as a sweet, outgoing social individual with no faults. Destructive abilities spices it up.**

 **Catie Cat: I've been laying out my stories to show how Percy and Harry are two sides to a coin. But Percy is very much alive. He just has a different set of abilities that can be contrasted with Harry's.**

 **AN: Sorry for the grammar errors in the previous chapter. Hopefully, I can get back to editing them out.**

 **Warning: Some swearing, violence**

 **Listening to –** _ **Seven Nation Army**_ **by The White Stripes**

* * *

 _Monday, Dec 3; 4:00 a.m.  
Dynasty Apartments, Manhattan_

Rachel was surrounded by her scribbles. Her art room had been her solitude since Saturday, when Annabeth had called her to say that they'd found Harry. They'd found Harry quite dead and no one had seen it coming.

Rachel hadn't seen it coming.

She had locked herself up after that call. May be she should be glad that her parents were in France, because she was not up to any kind of social contact. Rachel had been shut in her art room during the entirety of the weekend, scratching through dozens of sheets, trying to draw everything she could to get the picture of Harry's dead body out of her head.

Because no matter how much she'd lied to herself, Rachel knew she'd seen the signs of this. She had known something bad would happen if Harry had left the castle, alone and unprotected. She'd warned him, everyone had warned him, but Harry. Just. Hadn't. LISTENED.

Rachel dropped her latest sketch. It was a bare outline of an intricate coin. Silver, she guessed. It had the image of an owl. She thought it might have been a drachma, but those coins were golden, right?

She crumpled up the paper and threw it away. Her hands shook. Something similar to a sob arose in her chest.

Don't cry. Not again. Rachel was so exhausted. She'd cried the entire day, yesterday. She was useless. What the hell was her power of visions if she couldn't foretell exactly what had happened to her own brother?

Kronos was right. She needed to be trained to use her power.

 _Stop that_ , Rachel thought, angrily. _Don't think like that._

She stood up, her legs shaking from the numbness that gave way to a host of pins and needles that attacked her muscles. Wincing at the sudden blood flow which reached her toes, Rachel waddled her way to the door, exiting into her bedroom.

Yesterday's dinner sat on her nightstand, cold and stale. She picked up a bread roll anyway to chew on it. It felt like hardened cotton.

Rachel sat on her beanbag and looked towards the drawer where she'd stashed away the silver scythe charm. She reached out to take the bracelet and place it on her table, right next to a sketch of terrifying, seven legged spider.

One squeeze, Rachel. Just hold it tight, she could uncover the secret workings of her magic. She'd be able to use her visions properly.

She would be part of a war.

"No." Rachel whispered.

Bolt poked her head from under the bed. That's where the little puppy had hidden when Rachel had screamed and thrown a box of brushes against the wall, when she'd gotten the new.

The shattered box was right by the two shards of mirror that she'd shoved against the wall.

Rachel looked at her palms. There hadn't been a scratch on her when she'd broken the magical mirror.

She stared at the pieces, waiting for something. She wasn't sure what.

Her answer came barely half a minute later. If Rachel had the energy, she would have rolled her eyes. Either way, Rachel crossed her legs and tried to seem imposing when the shadows beside the drawn curtains of her closed balcony shuddered and elongated.

The temperature in the room dropped and two figures stepped out of the shadow.

Stupid seer senses working better AFTER someone died.

"Rachel?" DJ called, stopping to a halt. He was in a sweater vest, its bright red hoodie dangling after the shadow travel. With the fancy dark green jeans, he looked ready to go out for a fashionable walk around the park.

Nico was with him, of course. He was in his camp t-shirt and jeans shorts. Rachel eyed them both. They looked dead serious, shoulders hunched and prepared for a fight. In fact, DJ's eyes seemed swollen like he'd cried a lot. Clearly, nobody in the room had enjoyed the weekend.

"Going somewhere?" Rachel asked, not in a mood to chat.

DJ blinked. "We're going home. I mean, after Saturday, the school board wanted to shut down Hogwarts. Again. This time, Granpa agreed."

"And you came here…?"

"The mirror wasn't working. Annabeth said she'd told you what happened, but I was calling you all day yesterday –"

"I dropped it." She looked away to stare at the wall. Bolt retreated back under the safety of the bed. The Familiar could feel the guilt and terror coursing through Rachel.

DJ frowned, looking over the table, searching for the mirror. "What d'you mean you dropped it?"

"It broke."

"It – but it had an Impervius Charm on it." DJ said, incredulous. "It won't break…"

He gaped at the broken mirror that sat in the corner of the room.

Nico stared. "Did you drop it off the balcony, or something?"

Rachel leaned forwards to place her face in her hands. "Why are you here?"

Her voice was partially muffled. DJ took a moment to respond. He sounded furious, but the anger wasn't directed at her.

"Everyone knows."

"Knows what?"

"That Harry's dead. There was a riot in Diagon Alley. Granpa said the _International Confederation of Wizards_ wants to call a meeting in Hemel Hempstead, but England is the last place anything should be held because there's a red alert across the entire UK."

DJ's voice had quivered at the mention of Harry's name, but had remained steady throughout the rest of his explanation. Rachel didn't look up. She knew that if she met his reddened eyes, she might cry again.

"Rachel?" Nico called out, tentative.

She sucked in a breath and said, "Is that all?"

"No…" DJ sounded like he was frowning. "We're all packed and ready to leave. The train's gonna be there in an hour. Um, a bunch of us are going to the safe house, so I won't be able to leave again, because Sirius threatened that he would clap me in irons if I thought about leaving his sight."

Rachel raised her head. "You're _here_ , DJ! Across the ocean, pretty far away from Sirius's sight. Who knows you're here?"

"Luna, Colin, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Fr –"

She waited till he prattled off a list of people, all of whose names sounded familiar to her. She sighed, "Alright, Alright! At least, one of you listened. Go back."

DJ's face crumpled. Rachel swallowed. He was about to cry again. She could almost feel his struggle to hold the tears back.

Nico's phone rang, shattering the uncomfortable silence, and delivering a very awkward pause. Nico nearly jumped, putting a hand on his pocket. He looked at DJ, guilty at interrupting them.

"Sorry! I… I'll go back to the apartment… I'll come in …"

"Half hour." DJ muttered. "Thanks, Nico."

The demigod nodded, turning around and walking right through the shadow on the wall. Rachel didn't blink, staring at the impeccable sight of beautiful magic.

The room felt warmer with his absence. Rachel turned to look at DJ who had closed his eyes tight, fists clenched. He lowered his head and mumbled. "They found his body, on full display… like a _spectacle_."

He spat the last word, standing so stiff and full of pain that Rachel couldn't hold back anymore. She stood up and walked to him, putting her hands around his shoulders to squeeze him. He leaned in, head dropping on her shoulder. The tenseness in his body didn't abate, but she felt a little better. May be, she was rubbish at dealing with feelings, but this felt alright.

"The last time –" DJ started speaking, but his voice gave out. He cleared his throat and said, "The last time he'd… died, the thing with Rome… he woke up after a week. But it's been a whole week now, and nothing's happened. Healer Calles said that … that, that the body hadn't decomposed, but nothing healed, too. He's just, exactly the same as when he'd just died."

Rachel heard the words, but she wasn't sure if she could process it properly. Were they really talking about Harry's body not decomposing? What sort of world was theirs?

Why did he have to go alone?

"Sirius admitted him in the special corridor in St. Mungo's." DJ rasped, his hands coming up to clutch at her back. She patted his hair, feeling very much like someone trying to calm a child. DJ was a child. And so was she, Rachel realised.

"The same room, probably." DJ whispered, breathing loudly. "And the visitor list is super short. He's not letting me in there. Not until he starts to heal, at least."

Rachel nodded. DJ turned his head to look out the window into the cold and dark early morning.

"Why hasn't he started to heal?" DJ asked.

She tried not to flinch at the question. Was he asking her? Was he being rhetorical? Either way, she had no answer, because she was no Seer. She didn't have any discernible powers. Her visions, whatever they were had to be flukes. Kronos was wrong, she didn't have anything; she was a squib, a boring, ordinary useless mortal and muggle.

DJ didn't let out a noise, but she knew he sniffled. She knew he was crying, in that silent way that was just a step shy from holding back a scream. His hands made fists of her shirt.

In a move that startled herself, she started to run her fingers through his hair. She'd seen Harry and DJ do that, countless times, whenever they were worried, or in deep thought. It might have been a calming familiar movement for them.

DJ froze when he felt her do that. Rachel hoped it wasn't too weird. She just didn't know what to say to make him feel better. Nothing short of Harry waking up in that moment, would make DJ feel better.

Her cousin let out a breath, and relaxed by enough of a degree. It made Rachel feel a little less useless.

"I'm sorry." She told him.

DJ didn't answer. At first, she thought it was because he was mulling over the words, but then he raised his head.

Rachel saw him staring at the table, with a frown. She followed his sight and found the item that had caught his complete attention.

She froze.

"Is that… new?" DJ asked, eyes fixed on Kronos's scythe charm bracelet. "I haven't see it in your closet."

They still had their arms around each other. DJ was exactly her height, so when he turned to look at her in puzzlement, she couldn't escape his scrutiny by disguising her horror.

He stepped back when she didn't respond.

"I've seen that symbol." He muttered. "In a book… Where did you get it, Rachel?"

She just stared at him.

"Tell him." Bolt whispered.

 _I can't, he'll hate me._ Rachel thought, her emotions all over the place.

DJ reached forward and picked up the bracelet and her heart stopped.

"Symbols of power." DJ said, mostly to himself. "Rachel… I think this was in that book, _The Modern Demigod_ … where did you find this?"

Rachel couldn't answer, but she didn't have to. The entire room grew bright, as though the intensity of the lights increased. There was a short blast of heat from behind DJ.

No! Rachel wanted to scream, but it was too late. May be DJ had held it too tight, because Luke, no, _Kronos_ was standing there, gold eyes glowing on the face of Luke Castellan.

DJ turned around, speechless. He still held the bracelet, but he whipped out his wand and pointed it at the Titan Lord.

Kronos looked unimpressed. The aura around his body was gold and white, moving in soft time diluted waves. She felt a shudder run through her entire body.

Rachel marched forwards, grabbing the back of DJ's sweater, but he didn't move, trying to stare down the Titan. The room was so silent and suffocating that Rachel winced at the sheer magnitude of power that engulfed the immortal.

"Rachel…" DJ whispered, moving the bracelet. "Why was this with you?"

He'd recognized the symbol, she realised. He knew it belonged to Kronos. He knew that it was the Time Lord himself standing in front of them, in Rachel's room.

"Rachel." Kronos called. She shivered at the ancient draw of absolute power in the tone of his voice. It was the timber that shook her very core.

"I… I didn't call you." She whispered.

"What do you want with her?" DJ asked, stupidly brave. She saw his wand arm shake a bit.

Kronos smiled, the scar on Luke's face stretching. "The wizard cousin. Yes, I've met the other Potter, of course. Sorry, where are my manners? I'm Kronos."

As he said his own name, Rachel felt the vibrations of the Crooked One's power shake the foundations of the building. She stifled a shriek, yanking back DJ who had gasped.

"You are?" He continued, staring at DJ with false warmth.

DJ answered. He had to. "D… Daniel Jacob Potter."

He said his full name as though someone had forced them out of his mouth.

"Daniel." Kronos greeted him, baring his teeth like a shark. "Would you mind if I spoke with Rachel, alone? I like my privacy."

Rachel didn't even see any movement from the Titan, but DJ suddenly crumpled, his entire body pitching forwards in the head dive onto the floor. Rachel gasped, trying to grab him by the arm, but his dead weight just pulled her down. They fell to the carpet with a muffled thump.

She wasn't sure if his head had hit the ground, but she pillowed the back of his head with her palm now, searching for a lump. She didn't feel any. He just remained unconscious in her arms.

"So… I've heard the news… how are you, Rachel? How's the family?" Kronos asked, not phased with DJ passing out.

Rachel could feel the sobs wanting to erupt again. She shook her head wildly. "I won't be of any use to you! I can't tell the future!"

Kronos placed his arms behind his back like he was about to examine a sculpture. He looked down at them. "Why do you think that?"

"Because… I couldn't warn him. I didn't know…" Rachel whispered. She hadn't known what would happen to Harry if he left the castle alone. Just that _something_ bad would happen.

The Titan almost looked sorry for her. Like he truly understood her struggle. "That's what I'm here for, Rachel. I can help you."

His voice was very soft. It was comforting. She needed to hear this. Rachel needed this confirmation that someone did know what she was going through. Her parents had never understood. Percy made it very clear that he didn't want to have to deal with her. Harry had wished, at first, that she wouldn't get involved, but it was DJ who had run after her. It was DJ who wanted to help her.

She knew that Kronos' help would be very different from DJ's.

And she knew what the answer she should give him was, she just couldn't. She couldn't say it, not to a Titan, who could simply wish her dead and she would be dead. Rachel wished she was stupidly brave like DJ or Harry, or even Percy, or really any witch or wizard or demigod or demigoddess… She was ordinary.

She'd be incinerated.

 _I'm going to die_ , Rachel thought to herself.

Kronos frowned slowly. He must have heard her thoughts. He didn't really move, but all at once, he suddenly seemed even more imposing and foreboding to her. The Titan's power washed over her, burning her momentarily and leaving her cold and shivering. She clutched DJ closer, like she could shield Kronos's wrath from him.

"I won't kill you." Kronos whispered. He extended his hand and the scythe bracelet flew from the floor, up to his palm. Rachel stared.

"Since, you haven't given me verbal confirmation –"

 _Since, you're too much of a coward to give me a proper answer –_

" – I'll ask again, soon."

 _Next time, I won't take no for an answer._

Rachel heard the underlying threat so clearly that all she did was cringe at the frigid tone of his voice.

Kronos didn't miss her reaction. He looked down at DJ and sighed, giving that faux cheerful grace again.

"You can keep your friends close, Rachel. That won't keep you safe. In fact…" The golden eyes glittered like the sun was shining over a pile of drachmas. Rachel winced at the brightness. She could feel the heat of his words and the strain of the mortal body of Luke Castellan, trying to contain the eternal power of Kronos.

"… your death will be delivered by a _friend_." Kronos stood to his full height. His message made her gape.

Her voice croaked, trying to form questions, but he just shook his head. "I know quite a few things about the future, Rachel Elizabeth Dare. This is one truth you will never escape. I can promise you that."

He gave her a mock salute as his form grew bright and strong. Rachel shut her eyes, bending over DJ's face to protect him from the immortal's magic.

When the flash died down and the room grew cold again, DJ woke up to find Rachel crying.

* * *

 _Monday, Dec 3; 4:10 a.m.  
Jacksons' Apartment, Upper East Manhattan_

Nico shadow travelled to Sally's apartment. She wasn't there, and neither was Percy. Nico sighed, looking down at his phone at the unknown number that was calling him.

He swiped the green light and said, "Bi?"

"Yeah." Bianca answered. She was breathing loudly, like the Hunters had just finished a trek. Nico could actually hear the wind howling in the background. He imagined it was night time there as well. Of course, it would be if she was west to him.

"I heard about Harry."

Nico winced. He'd tried to call her when he'd first found out that Harry had died. But of course, the Iris Messages had conveniently stopped working, and she didn't have a mirror or a phone on her. The Hunters had been journeying across the desert, the last he'd heard.

"Are you okay?" Bianca asked.

Nico took in a deep breath to avoid yawning through a very solemn conversation. "He's not… _dead_ dead, Bi."

"I know." He could hear the frustration in her voice. "I think I felt that. Let me guess, his soul isn't in the lobby?"

"Nope. And I don't really know where to search, seeing as how the Underworld is a little bigger than the US itself."

Nico plopped down on the couch and, using his foot, shifted Sally's lava lamp that stood on the tea table. He watched the slow globs of liquids move around.

"I've been doing some digging into this immortal bracelet thing." Bianca said. He sat up, suddenly alert.

"What did you find?"

"Something about a priestess of Artemis who was cursed with the same kind of immortality. This was thousands of years ago, but when she died, her body didn't decay. The mortals tried to cremate her, but the fire did nothing to her. She woke up in just a few hours and later disappeared from the kingdom. Her… She was Iphigenia, titled princess of Argos."

Nico gave a groan. "Thousands of years? Bianca! You know what Charon told me? He said that there were seven files in the restricted section! Apparently seven people are immortal!"

"Okay." Bianca said. He could imagine her putting a hand on her hip and frowning into the middle distance, trying to figure it all out. "Okay, so we have Iphigenia, Percy, and Harry."

"And Ajax." Nico added. "That's four out of seven. If they all have this immortal power –"

"Mortals who can never stay dead." Bianca whispered. He could hear the well-disguised horror in her voice, only because he knew her so well. "Do you know how incredibly dangerous they could be?"

Nico breathed out, slow. "Bi… you said three people are gonna die soon. Are you counting Harry?"

"Yes, of course. This brand of immortality allows them to taste death, but releases them from it quickly. So, yeah. Harry was the first."

"So, may be the other two people could also be the immortal… the immortal mortals?"

"Oh gods! Is that what we're calling them?" Bianca muttered. "I dunno, Nico. It would lucky if it were. Do you know anyone else with the bracelet?"

Nico frowned. He looked up from the lava lamp, thinking fast. "The… they need to have a bracelet to be immortal?"

"The bracelet is giving them that power, Nico!"

"You didn't say that!"

Bianca huffed. "I thought it was obvious! I've seen Percy's bracelet. It's on his left arm, right? Harry has one and Thalia told me that Iphigenia had a bracelet, too! Which means Ajax would have one, and so would all the other… immortal mortals! We need another name for them."

Nico gaped. He felt his palms grow hot, sweating out of a sudden realisation.

Sally had a bracelet, as well. He'd seen it when he'd first moved in and she had stumbled out of bed in the morning, yawning and hardly awake, scratching her upper left arm, where the bronze bracelet with its twelve charms hung, glittering in the morning sun.

* * *

 _Monday, Dec 3; 9:30 a.m.  
Hogwarts, Scotland_

Nico had arrived a while later to help DJ get back to Hogsmeade. From there, he took one of the secret tunnels to the castle, one which hadn't been locked already.

DJ sneaked in to the first floor of the castle, still reeling from the conversation he'd had with Rachel.

Apparently, Kronos had offered her a job as official Seer to the Titans.

Apparently, she'd been on the fence about her decision for nearly two months.

And none of the demigods knew about it.

DJ didn't want to think of the chaos it could stir up if camp knew. Merlin, if Percy found out, he'd flip…

Rachel had begged DJ to not tell about the Titan's offer, or even the scythe charm bracelet, to anyone. DJ had promised, only if she agreed to confide this to one of the demigods. She had been adamant to never talk to Percy, which was fine. There were enough campers she could talk to. Nico would feel immensely guilty keeping a secret like that from Percy. DJ had seen how he looked up to Percy. Her best bet would be Annabeth, who was now on a more stable first name basis with her. Even the Hunters would be willing to listen to her and even if none of them were a choice, Rachel could always go to Chiron.

DJ walked into the Great Hall, realising that most of the students were already there. Everyone had their carry-ons, having packed the majority of their luggage in their dorm rooms. They were all ready to leave the castle. It was daunting. Nobody seemed to be chatting happily, like they would on the last day of term. Instead, everyone was whispering anxiously, clearly discussing about Harry's undead capability.

He could feel a lot of eyes on him. Letting out a breath, he steered his way right past a good length of the Gryffindor table to reach Ginny and Colin. He sat across from them, wincing as some of the second years stood up to get a good look at him. Ginny whipped her head around to glower at them, and they immediately sat down, ducking their heads.

"Thanks." DJ muttered.

Colin leaned in, eager. "So? What did she say?"

DJ blinked. He'd nearly forgotten the real reason he'd gone to Rachel's. He was supposed to ask her if she knew anything about what exactly had happened to Harry, or if she had an inkling as to who it could have been.

Because all rumours pointed to Voldemort. DJ couldn't believe that. He wouldn't. No matter how tenacious Harry was, he'd never willingly put himself on a path to Voldemort.

"She didn't really know much." DJ said, staring holes into the table.

"But you said she knew something could happen –"

"I did. She'd warned him. And he still went out. And I didn't stop him." DJ clenched his fists, trying to take deep breaths. "I should have stopped him."

Ginny twiddled her thumbs. "DJ, Harry knew what he was doing. When he comes back, and now we know that he will, you can give him hell for it. Till then, we just do our best to keep ourselves safe."

DJ didn't answer her. Guilt wracked his body. He could still remember the conversation he'd had with Harry. They were looking at the photos, talking about the party. It should have been a casual, fun talk, but no, they needed to have problems like the mysterious Sky who had been in disguise, and the second intruder who'd had an Obfuscation charm.

If Harry hadn't taken that photo with him, along with all the negatives, DJ could have seen the photo to try and figure out what exactly had caught his eye.

There must have been a clue there. Harry knew how dangerous it was to leave, and he still did.

Or may be he hadn't care how dangerous it was. May be, he thought he was untouchable.

DJ wanted to punch Harry. He'd do that as soon as he woke up.

"There were two people disguised at that party." DJ said, low enough that only Ginny and Colin would hear him.

Colin sat up, nodding fast, "Yeah, we know! That guy, Sky, and Rachel."

"Ye – wait, what?" DJ raised his head, staring at him. "I forgot Rachel! She was disguised too!"

Ginny frowned. "So, there were three people in disguise?"

"Right!" DJ said, shutting his eyes with a sigh. "Anthony had made the pendant charm for her. She went by Elizabeth, the whole night; I forgot!"

Ginny sat up, back straight and stiff. "Pendant… A brown pendant? She had straight hair, wore boots, that Elizabeth!?"

DJ coughed. He'd also forgotten that Ginny had spent practically the whole night mooning over her.

"Yeah… Didn't you know?"

Ginny's face had gone slack. "No… no, she… didn't tell me."

There was a kind of shock on her face which made DJ cringe. He and Harry hadn't really told many people that Rachel was at the party, disguised under the name Elizabeth. Ginny definitely looked like the floor had vanished from below her feet.

"That little..." Ginny pressed her lips together. DJ could swear that the temperature in the room rose by a few degrees.

"Not again!" Colin whispered, terrified and backing away. "Crikey, Ginny! Calm down, come on!"

DJ reached forwards and grabbed her wrist. "Ginny, focus! You need to breathe!"

She yanked her hand away from his hold. "I'm fine! Damn it, Screw you! Nobody said a word to me! She didn't… she…"

Ginny stood up and got out of the table, half sprinting to the double doors and exiting the Great Hall. Her face had been burning red, with what DJ guessed was anger and humiliation.

After nearly half an hour, the students were all lead to the castle's entrance, house-wise. DJ shouldered his bag and stood beside Colin. Both boys had spotted Ginny standing beside Luna closer to the back since Ravenclaw was the last house to leave Hogwarts.

Ahead of them, DJ saw Ron and Hermione muttering to each other in low tones. Nobody in the castle had the guts to try and talk to them, especially after Hermione had glared at everyone in a manner reminiscent of McGonagall. She and Ron had their heads down, obviously talking about better crafted theories of Harry's encounter and …fate.

By the time they'd all arrived at Hogsmeade station, DJ found scores of Aurors standing protectively and eyeing the surroundings, ready for any seeming threat. One of the Aurors, Tonks, (DJ recognized her dull pink hair bobbing through the crowd) approached him and gave him a small smile. She placed a hand on his shoulder and they waited for the train.

"Tell me you're not gonna sit with me on the train." DJ pleaded. He didn't need any more embarrassment from the students.

"I'll just be checking your carriage, youngling." Tonks said, rolling her eyes. "We have other Aurors who'll patrol the corridors. So, you'll be under constant supervision and safety."

Colin sighed and nudged DJ, "Don't worry, mate. They'll cover you up in bubble wrap. Hopefully, your owl can peck enough bubbles to let you read my letters."

"Shut up!"

When the train slowly rolled into the station, DJ swallowed, worried and jittery. This would be his first train ride without Harry.

They boarded the train and waited till the Aurors finished their inspection. When the clock struck eleven, the engine whistle rang out. DJ leaned out the window and found Tonks who stood on the platform.

She waved at him and threw him a thumbs-up. He nodded, trying to relax. As the train began to move, the door slid open and Luna and Ginny clambered in.

It was obvious that the only reason that Ginny was in the carriage with them was because she would never raise her voice over Luna.

"DJ." Luna said, sitting down. "Do you have something to say to Ginny?"

DJ couldn't go against Luna, either. There was a slightly different reason for that, though.

"I'm really sorry, Ginny." He told her. Ginny folded her arms and turned to stare at the window. Colin stared at DJ, wide-eyed, trying to signal him to do better.

"I mean… we thought no one had to know. It's our fault."

"Ron and Hermione knew." Ginny said. Her tenor made him feel uncomfortable. DJ pressed his lips together, trying to find the right words.

"Right, that's because… Harry told them, and they were super excited. And I should have told all three of you. But I didn't and that's on me. I'm really sorry, Ginny. I didn't mean it."

He waited for her to respond. They'd be spending the rest of December, including all the holidays, at the safe house. If DJ didn't make up with her, he was sure Ginny would hold a grudge against him for months.

Her shoulders slumped. He let out a sigh of relief.

"I'm not mad at you, DJ. Yeah, you should have told us. We're your best friends, but seriously, she didn't say anything!"

Ginny huffed, propping her legs up. "Elizabeth and I spoke for hours about everything and anything and she could have told me about herself, but she didn't! She didn't say who she was! I had no idea she was Harry's twin!"

"Would that matter?" Colin asked, furrowing his brow. Ginny clicked her tongue.

"Sort of… I dunno. It felt like she lied to me. I get the disguise, her identity is crucial, but it really feels like she was lying to me. The whole night… she could told me any time, but she didn't."

DJ thought of Harry's reaction when he found out about Sky. He heard it from Rachel, that Harry had a look of astonishment, nearly close to heartbreak. It was a betrayal of trust, as simple as that.

May be, Sky had an important identity as well. But from this side, DJ couldn't trust him at all, for hiding the truth. It was what Rachel had done.

"Do you want to talk to her?" He asked Ginny, tentative of the answer.

Ginny's back stiffened. Her expression was hard and DJ wondered if she was going to burn something.

"No. I don't even want to think about her."

* * *

 _Monday, Dec 3; 9:00 a.m.  
Goode High School, Manhattan_

Rachel fell asleep in gym.

It was strange because she never dozed during gym. Especially, if it was the first class of the day.

But here she was, collecting badminton rackets for her class. She'd stepped into the locker room and taken all the rackets from the gym teacher's shelf.

And then she sat down and laid her head on the desk by the lockers.

 _She was in a train station. It was empty, except for her and Harry._

 _Rachel did a double-take. "Harry?"_

 _Harry was sitting on the ground, back leaning against a brick column. Right above his head was a large double side clock that looked like it was from the Victorian era. The time it showed was distinctly 2:00 pm. She guessed pm because the sun was more or less shining through the thick grey clouds that covered the sky._

" _Hey. Fancy seeing you here." Harry looked up at her, smiling brightly. He held something in his hand. It looked like a large card or ticket._

 _Rachel gawked. "Am I dreaming?"_

" _Probably." Harry shrugged like there was nothing of note to consider. She stared at him in his fresh Hogwarts uniforms. His hair was as wayward as ever. He didn't seem to be… dead._

 _She took a few steps back. "Why?"_

" _Huh?"_

" _Why am I dreaming about this? Are… you are gonna wake up, right?"_

 _Harry nodded. "Don't worry. I'm not really dead."_

" _Oh, so what, you're playing pretend?" She snapped. She wanted to punch him, to jar him as much as everyone in the Wizarding world was._

" _I… am sorry." Harry whispered. He suddenly seemed downcast._

 _Oh, now he plays the part._

" _Shut up! Just shut up, you dodo. You absolute idiot! I told you! I told you to stay safe. To not go anywhere alone! Why did you leave?!"_

 _Her voice rose to a shriek. She didn't care, it wasn't like anyone was watching them._

" _There were intruders at the party." Harry said, looking at her carefully. "I thought I recognized one of them."_

" _And did you?"_

" _Probably." He shrugged. "I'll never know."_

 _Rachel frowned. "Why not?"_

" _Because, I'm dead." He said it so plainly that she flinched. "I won't remember what's happened. It was the same thing with Rome. I'll never remember what exactly happened then. The bits and pieces that I do recall is all I will ever have. I don't know who killed me, I don't know where I went, I don't know what I saw."_

 _He stood up and walked to the edge of the platform to stare down at the tracks._

" _I missed the train." He said, softly._

 _Rachel stood, frozen to the spot. "Is this real?"_

 _He gave a sad smile. "You're one of the most powerful people I have ever met, Rachel. We're in your head. You better believe what you see."_

" _I…" She staggered forwards. "If I'm dreaming this, it couldn't be real, right?"_

 _Harry looked down at his hands. The card, no ticket, glinted in the mild light. It was pale gold. She saw his name written in bold. HARRY POTTER was inked in in black letters. There was a purple seal of approval right by the name._

" _Hogwarts train ticket." He explained, showing it to her. "I guess I can't use it now. But the strange thing about these tickets is that, it can allow students on the train even if the names don't match."_

 _She stared. "That's bullshit. It defeats the purpose."_

 _He grinned. "It's complicated magic. It reminds me of Hogwarts."_

 _Harry looked past her shoulder. Rachel turned her head to stare at the gigantic medieval, stone built, castle in the distance. She saw its towers and blocks, its walls and fort, the majestic layout of the school against the backdrop of the clouded sky. It was surrounding by black waters and green lawns, a large forest extending onto one side._

 _It was breath taking. Rachel heard her own gasp as if it were someone else's._

" _Hogwarts has a way of letting you know that it's alive." Harry's voice dropped to a whisper, as a gesture of respect and awe. It sounded as if he were laying his eyes on the castle for the first time as well._

" _I wish I was a witch." Rachel said, longing for a reality where that could have been true._

 _Harry almost chuckled. "You're so much more than a witch, Rachel. You're so much more than your magic."_

 _She frowned. "You said I don't have any magic."_

 _He looked sheepish. "Sorry. I meant, you don't have the required brand or level of magic necessary to make you a witch, by official standards."_

 _She glared at him and he hurried to explain. "I mean, you definitely have some kind of power. The Clear-Sightedness, the Seer abilities, all that's very impressive. It's not mainstream magic. You can't perform any spells. That's the only reason you didn't get the letter."_

 _Rachel folded her arms, trying not to pout. She wanted to be angry, but she also knew that Harry made sense. It was what Kronos had told her, in less threatening words._

" _You're sounding really zen, by the way. Are you channelling Yoda?" She commented as they looked up at the castle._

 _Harry choked. "Shit. I'm turning into Dumbledore, aren't I?"_

" _Is Dumbledore cryptic and chill?"_

" _Irritatingly so."_

 _Rachel smothered a laugh. Harry sounded grumpy, like his usual self. He shook his head, looking back at the ticket._

" _Have you ever heard of the Patron?"_

 _His question caught her off guard. Rachel frowned, twisting her neck to watch him. He seemed uneasy, suddenly._

" _No. Who's that? Another villain hellbent on taking over the world?"_

 _Harry shrugged, "May be? I dunno. I tried to search for her… Well, when I say tried… I really didn't do much. But the Oracle is mad at me now."_

 _He looked at her suddenly. "Say… d'you think you could find her?"_

" _Who? The Oracle?"_

" _No, the Patron?"_

" _But I don't know who that is!"_

" _Neither do I." Harry shrugged. "But, er… I'll owe you. Promise."_

 _Rachel glared at him. "Wait a second. What makes you think I'm agreeing to anything?"_

 _Harry blinked. " 'Cause we're friends?"_

" _Friends listen to each other."_

" _We're family?"_

" _Don't even go there, Harry."_

 _He sighed. "I'll owe you! I swear on my grave."_

 _She raised an eyebrow. "That's not funny."_

" _Please!" Harry pleaded. He looked like he was ready to fall on his knees. "Please, Rachel! The Oracle's not leaving me alone! She followed me all the way to the Underworld just to badger me! It's not cool!"_

" _Argh! Fine! You owe me so much!" Rachel threatened. Anything to stop him from actually begging her. She might have liked that any other time, but right now, she just wanted to be done with this crazy dream/vision._

" _I will die for, sister." Harry said solemnly and jumped away when Rachel tried to punch him._

" _Too soon? Sorry. She's behind you, by the way."_

 _Harry's casual tone didn't indicate any cause for alarm. But his words made sense to her a second late, because when Rachel turned around, she was standing face to face with a mummy._

 _Her shriek echoed around the empty train station. Rachel jumped back, nearly crashing into Harry._

 _(In the back of her mind, she wondered how they were able to touch each other, but of course, she would get any sensible answers from her own head.)_

 _There was an actual mummy, wrapped in bandages, dirt on the brown, stained cloth. Rachel panted, feeling her heart race at the sight. It was a dead body. She was a dead body, standing there, staring at Rachel through burned holes from which twin green glows spilled._

 _The mummy was staring right at her._

" _I think you've met her." Harry muttered, as though it were a casual setting._

" _When you come back to life, I'm gonna kill you." Rachel whispered out of the side of her mouth._

 _He looked affronted. "You can make dead jokes and I can't? That's not fair."_

 _The mummy tilted her head and Rachel's heart stopped. She was_ _ **staring**_ _at her._

" _What does she want?" Rachel whispered, taking a step back._

 _Harry grimaced. "She wants to know where the Patron is."_

" _But I don't know_ _ **who**_ _the Patron is."_

" _That's what I said. I guess that's not as important as where she would be." Harry shrugged. He looked at the mummy._

" _Oracle, you're sure Rachel can help?"_

 _Rachel shot a look of death at Harry, which didn't work for multiple obvious reasons._

 _The Oracle/mummy looked at Harry, and then at Rachel._

" _See?" Harry showed her, triumphant._

" _I don't speak 'mummy'." She snapped._

" _What about English? You're good with that?" Harry asked, flicking his train ticket in front of her face. Rachel jerked her face back to get a proper look at her._

 _Her heart stopped again, but this time, it was a whole range of emotions barraging into her body that made her breathless._

 _RACHEL ELIZABETH DARE was printed on the ticket instead of Harry's name. The purple seal of approval was still there._

 _Her ticket. It was her ticket. It was approved._

" _I missed the train, Rach. But I think you can catch it." Harry winked._

 _She was going to kill him! She raised her fist, ready to cause some serious damage to his smirking face, but Harry pressed the ticket into her other hand._

She woke up.

Rachel stood up, hands brushing on her soccer uniform, feeling the ground rumble beneath her shoes. It wasn't an earthquake. No, she was in a moving … space.

She was in a train. Rachel gaped at her surroundings. She was standing right in the middle of two locked doors, right at the end of a train compartment. The sounds of the tracks emerged from beneath the floor. The windows showcased passing scenery of green country landscape. She could hear the wind through the closed window panes.

She was on the fucking Hogwarts Express.

* * *

 _Monday, Dec 3; 2:20 p.m.  
The Leaky Cauldron, Diagon Alley, London_

Zachariah Belstone watched Cedric delivering another jaw popping yawn. He groaned. It was one thing to pull an all-nighter to focus on crime reports, it was a whole other thing to do it with a partner who desperately needed his solid seven hours of sleep. Cedric was the kind of soul for whom even coffee was useless.

"Go home." Zack implored.

"Can't. Gotta finish this." Cedric dunked his bagel into his tea.

"Please go home."

It didn't help that they were sitting at a reclusive boothin the back of their favourite pub, with Tom the barman who did the rounds. The man had little patience for Aurors who fell asleep in front of his face.

"We hafta find… the… urgh, the elf murderer!"

Zack looked back at the mound of papers. This was better than the Ministry, still. Ever since finding Harry's body, the traffic responses and paper memos had been a nightmare. He was just glad that he didn't work at the DMLE and security branches.

"Keep your voice down."

Cedric sighed. "It figures they'd give us the least important trail to track. Sirius isn't even bothered with Kreacher."

Zack picked out a photo that featured a close up of the six butterbeer bottles spread around Kreacher.

"There's no way a house elf could drink all these bottles. They'd be skagged one bottle in."

"We're going in circles." Cedric gave another yawn. "Besides, he did live in that house for fifty years. He could be resilient to the drink."

Zack scowled. "How could an elf disobey his master's orders? That's not possible. He could have found a loophole, but Sirius gave him explicit instruction to never leave the house."

"I still think this connects to Lestrange." Cedric pulled out another sheet from below the file. "If the murderer broke her out of Azkaban and failed to kill her, he must have used her control of Kreacher, somehow."

"Somehow?" Zack intoned. "That really doesn't cut it, Ced. Elf's cannot disobey their masters. Its in their blood. It would kill them to go against an order."

Cedric frowned. "But that's a blood spell."

He sounded like something had woken him up. Zack looped up and saw Cedric blink, trying to widen his dilated eyes.

"Blimey, you're done, Ced. Go home. I'll clean up the report – c"

"No, no! Zack, listen." Cedric said, excitedly. "Elf's aren't born subservient to people. They're spelled that way."

"Yeah, the spell runs in their blood for generations, it's like they're born with the mind set." Zack confirmed.

"That's because no creature is born in chains." Cedric slammed his hands down on the papers. The table shook. "What if the spell faded?"

Zack gaped. "Not possible. Sirius was very clear, he made several commands before lending out the safe house to the Order, Kreacher obeyed every one of them."

"What if he was pretending?"

Cedric look elated. Zack wasn;t so sure about his theory though. He'd never heard of an elf successfully rebelling against a fading spell. But just because he hadn't heard of it, didn't mean it hadn't happened.

"No one would keep records of that, Ced."

"Then we file a request for them to conduct the post mortem keeping the spell in mind."

Cedric gave off the confidence of a rookie who had solved an entire case on his own. Zack sighed.

"I'll ask. On one condition, though."

"Anything."

"Go. Home."

Cedric blinked and almost forgot to open his eyes. "I'll… yeah, I'll go…"

He stood up, grabbed his robes that he'd drapped over the booth back rest. He swayed alarmingly.

"Ced! Take the bus, please! If you floo, I'm sure you'll end up in China."

"Stranger things have happened." Cedric muttered. "Look up on the extent of elf magic, too. They can do that walking through wards stuff that we can't."

"I remember." Zack sighed, watching his friend stumble through the tables and earning glares from the other customers.

The extent of elf magic. Zack nodded to himself. One of the primary theories when considering who could have broken through the castle wards, had been elf magic. But it had been dismissed early on, seeing that there had been no signature of elf magic, anywhere around the boundary.

But elves could apparated and disapparate on Hogwarts grounds. It was something no other species had the ability to do as long as the enchantment restricting it functioned well.

Cedric had a point, though. Elves had complex roots and understanding in magic. They could perform flawless wandless magic and many witches and wizards couldn't even attempt.

Elf magic trumped human magic, that's for sure. It trumped nearly all kinds…

Zack sat there, momentarily thunderstruck by an idea.

Lestrange…

What had Dumbledore said? Artefacts that held a portion of Tom's powers? Like the cursed diary that had released the Basilisk. If that had been with Lucious Malfoy… Would another devoted follower of Voldemort have one as well?

That's why Tom had broken her out. To figure out where she'd hidden it.

Where would someone like Bellatrix Lestrange hide it?

Some place a human would find it hard pressed to break into?

But somewhere a house elf might find it easy.

A place that was intimidating to humans, but easy for house elves.

Zack was frowning at the table until he hit a dead end. He was close to an answer, he just couldn't put his finger on it.

He looked back at the file and sighed when he realised that Cedric had taken Lestrange's papers with him.

Zack stood up to look out of the windows. Cedric was still walking slowly, ambling over to the Knight Bus that was parked across the circle from the Leaky Cauldron.

He got up and rushed to the entrance of the pub, pulling open the door and running out.

"Ced!"

Cedric kept walking. Zack rolled his eyes.

"Cedric! It's Cho!"

Cedric stopped, swivelling around and nearly tripping over his feet. He looked around wildly.

Zack waved his hands, descending the steps. "Give me the report!"

Cedric blinked. "Let me live, Zack!"

"You need to sleep! Don't take work home."

Zack marched towards him. Cedric was half way to the bus.

The street was not very crowded. It seemed too cold and cloudy a day for any kind of incident. Nobody expected anything to happen. Pedestrians walked by, both muggle and magical. Vehicles really didn't venture anywhere near the pub. It was a quiet day.

And then, the Knight Bus exploded.

Zack felt the wave of heat hit him before actually seeing the fire. He crouched down with a yell, wand out in an instance. The instinctual shield he'd created protected ten feet of the area on both his left and right sides.

Even under the shield, the ground shook.

He heard glass and metal scream and break under the energy dispersal. Within seconds it quietened down, and he could hear the screams of people, running away.

Zack looked up, his shield fading away.

Cedric wasn't moving.

"No." He gasped. Zack staggered to his feet and ran towards him.

Cedric had attempted to conjure a shield, but he'd been too exhausted. Zack could see the burns on his skin and the scorched hair. His shirt was covered in soot and glass dust. Blood leaked from his ears.

Cedric gave a cough and mumbled, "Ow."

"Don't move." Zack said, rough and shaking. He held out his wand and sent as many patronuses as he could. "Don't move, Ced. Help's on it's way."

Zack looked around, heart falling. The bus had completely deteriorated. The top two floors were gone. The base was all that was left, its tyres melted into the road, orange flames covering the entire locomotive.

Had there been people in there? Zack hadn't seen any, but he also hadn't paid attention to it. The bus had been parked, right? So, may be there'd been no one in it.

Even as Aurors and Order members began apparating to the circle, Zack knew that he was deluded.

* * *

 _Monday, Dec 3; 2:30 p.m.  
Grimmauld Place, London_

Nico flooed into the safe house. Grimmauld Place smelt of old furniture, no matter how much they let the sunshine in. He took a second to stand in the dust and breathe it in.

He had to ask her. Nico knew thought of all the memories he'd had with Sally. She never gave any indication that she could be a threat. Someone dangerous and powerful like Percy or Harry. No, she was a regular mortal and muggle woman. She was ordinary. Harmless.

Right?

Sally was in the kitchen with Molly and Arthur Weasley. Nico walked in, shooting them quick smiles.

"Hello, dear." Molly greeted him, warmly. At least, it seemed warm. He could see stress lines across her face. She was worried about Harry and her kids, obviously.

"Hello, Mrs. Weasley. Um… Sally?"

Sally had been helping Mr. Weasley with one of the tea kettles. She turned around and grinned at him. "Nico. I didn't know you'd be here today."

Nico shrugged. "Wanted to meet the guys when they came in. It's been a while since I've seen them."

He couldn't believe how easily the lie slipped out. It was like he'd already began to distrust her.

"Can I talk to you?" he asked, immediately. "It's sort of important."

She watched him. Her smile faltered. He had a feeling she could tell it was something very bad.

"Go ahead." Arthur nodded, smiling at her and then at Nico. "I can manage the tea. The rest of the Order will take at least twenty minutes, I'm sure."

"Still too long, I would say." Molly muttered. "You would think it would take less time to meet with the DMLE."

"The Aurors have other work as well, Molly."

Sally followed Nico out into the living room. She closed the kitchen door behind her and walked, step slowing down as they approached the hearth.

"Something wrong?" She asked in a low voice.

Nico looked up at her. She couldn't be dangerous. She was the kindest person he'd met.

"What d'you know about your bracelet?" He whispered.

Her concerned expression melted into a placid one. She seemed to give no other visible reaction.

"Is this about Harry?"

Nico gave her a half shrug. "The bracelet isn't allowing him to die."

Sally shook her head. He tried not to get annoyed at that.

"It's true! It's that thing, you know it is! You have to tell me, how you got yours. How did Percy and Harry become _immortal_ –"

"The bracelet brings them back." Sally's voice was so hushed that he had to lean in to hear her. "It doesn't stop them from dying."

"Does that matter?"

"Immensely." She hissed. "Death signifies a change to the entire body. Mortals go through this only once. Harry's died four times now. And it was true in all cases. The bracelet brings his soul back from the Underworld and reunites it with his body. That's not all. It also ensures that his body heals any and all injuries. It gives him distinct abilities that no mortal is meant to have."

Nico swallowed this information like a bitter pill. He felt sick. Four times. That couldn't leave anyone sane.

"Where's his soul right now?"

"I can't tell you."

"Sally! Please, I need to find him!"

She stared as though he hadn't made enough sense. Couldn't she see his urgency?

"Did your father tell you to ask me?"

Nico exhaled. "No. No one else knows."

Sally closed her eyes in relief. Then she frowned. "It wouldn't matter either way, I suppose. He wouldn't be able to do much."

He watched her walk around the sofa to sit on it. She placed her elbows on her knees, bending forwards to rest her face on her palms. Nico stepped forwards.

"Who gave you the bracelets?" He asked, trying to sound a little commanding.

Sally shook her head. She let out a throaty, silent laugh. "She calls herself the Patron."

She looked up at him. "Her idea is that an opponent of hers commands a bunch of mortals who can't stay dead. So, she did the same."

Nico could feel his heart thundering in his chest. It hurt. His fingers twitched. "She chose the three of you?"

"No." Sally whispered. "Harry was the first. He came back first. Next was Percy –"

"Percy's died before!" Nico whispered, horrified.

"He doesn't know. Please don't tell him!" She pleaded.

Nico took a step back. "And you're the third?"

Sally almost smiled. It wasn't a pleasant expression. "No. I'm keeping this on hold. The Patron says the bracelet will know who to choose."

Nico stared at her left upper arm. She was wearing a sweater, so he could barely see the raised bumps over the bracelet. She could take it off then. She could assign it to someone –

No, the Patron assigns immortality to people. Three people for the Patron.

And three for the opponent.

That's six. Who was the seventh?

"Do you know who the Patron is?" He asked, unable to raise his voice above a whisper.

Sally's pale blue eyes were trained on him. She had a look that made him feel that she was pitying him.

She will never answer that question." She said. "Not until the right time. Put it out of your head for now. If you must know something about her, you should be asking 'where' she is."

Nico's struggled to swallow down his anxiety. "Where is she?"

Sally leaned back to rest on the smelly sofa. She tilted her head to gauge him. "Last I heard, Tartarus."

They stayed there in silence, simply watching each other. Nico's mind went a million miles an hour. Iphigenia, Ajax, Harry, and Percy. Two more names to fill the roster and a mysterious seventh.

That's what Charon had said. _There are seven files in the restricted section… For now, anyway._

"Do you know how many people have this ability to come back?" Nico asked, trying to steel himself.

Sally raised an eyebrow. She seemed to be coping with the topic. "At the moment, there are seven."

"Can that number increase?"

"Yes, I believe eight is the limit."

"Why eight?" he frowned. "Is that a special number?"

Sally scratched the side of her cheek, sighing. "I honestly don't know that, Nico."

"You know a lot about everything else."

He hadn't meant to say it so rudely. But that was how it came out. Sally looked hurt.

"I… I haven't told anyone about this. I wasn't supposed to –"

"Then why are you telling me?"

She gave him a sad look. "She asked me to."

Nico stared. "What? The Patron wants me know?"

"She knows that you'll witness her third choice."

He watched her lower her head and rub her temples like she had a headache.

"Is she here… now?"

Sally watched him, probably trying to figure out how to answer him without freaking him out. It was too late for that last part, though.

"I… gods are omnipotent, Nico… you don't have to fear her. She likes you."

Nico was ready to scream. It was building up in his throat. But before he could do anything, the hearth came alive, tall green flames shooting up into the chimney. He leaped back, hand on the hilt of his sword. Sally stood up, hands pressing into her stomach, looking sick.

Sirius stumbled out, nearly falling on the rug. He caught himself and stepped aside for an entire horde of people to floo in. He saw Sally and Nico standing in the room and immediately gasped, "Go back to New York. UK is shutting down all the borders within the next half hour. GO!"

* * *

 **Sooo, how was it? Some of you may know where this os going, but I've still got a lot of action left to pace. Stay tuned!**

 **Q: Has canon ever mentioned a silver drachma?**

 **Cabba.**


	50. Trust Fall

**You guys are awesome, I love reading your reviews. It makes my entire week!  
I'll respond to you in the next update, super stuck with work. Good job with the question!**

 **Warning: Gory depictions of corpses, death, cursing, people-eating monsters.**

 **Listening to –** _ **Cayendo**_ **by Deorro**

* * *

 _Monday, Dec 3; 2:45 p.m.  
Diagon Alley, London_

A dead witch and a horcrux walked into Gringotts.

A terrifying statement in itself, but it also was an unprecedented one. Because, Bellatrix Lestrange was not actually dead, but she definitely wasn't the one walking into a bank to set up a hypothetical joke.

Tom followed 'Lestrange', silent and invisible. The most ideal plan would be to have Percy disguise himself as Lestrange to get into her vault. But the Polyjuice potion allowed for human transformation only. And as much of a learning experience it would be to observe Percy choke down a vial of the potion, Tom couldn't waste any more time than he already had.

Luckily, he had Stan Shunpike to serve the role, under a proper Imperious curse. Stand walked in, not in the precise way Lestrange would have, but in a way that would certainly not attract suspicion from the notoriously clever Goblins. Her tall, emaciated form was shrouded in smart blue robe, hood up to cover her wild tangles.

The general golden shimmer of the interior of the bank was packed with hurrying officials. Scrolls of paperwork fell out of the hands of many goblins, only to be picked up by a gust of wind and pile up on a long desk in one of the inner offices. The chandelier clinked and swung as though it responded to the agitated activity across the marble floors.

Tom and Shunpike approached the desk of a harried looking goblin. Since all the others were in a similar state of frenzy, owing to the fact that they would have to shut down the bank within the hour, Tom knew things were going according to plan.

The knight bus should supplement enough fear and chaos in the public. Hed made sure that it would happen right outside Diagon Alley. The Aurors had already ordered all the stores in the Alley to close shop. They couldn't do anything about the bank, since it was out of their jurisdiction. The goblins had seen fit to secure their assets anyway. If it went properly, Tom would have enough time to get into the vault, find the horcrux, and escape.

"Am I meant to keep waiting?!" Lestrange's low hiss of a voice emerged from under the hood. The goblin on the high desk looked up, fierce expression flickering only once in surprise. He examined Shunpike's form, taking note of the witch's face.

"Key?"

"I have never been asked that." Shunpike continued. "Is this how you treat your most loyal customers?"

Tom focused on the goblin, taking note of his features before casting a sharp Imperius curse on him as well.

He didn't even flinch.

"Of course, madam." The goblin bowed his head. "My apologies. Please, this way."

* * *

 _Monday, Dec 3; 2:45 p.m.  
Hogwarts Express, Scotland_

Ginny went about the train searching for Ron and Hermione. It was way past lunch and the candy lady hadn't shown up during the journey. Everyone she'd talked to had shown a bit of nervousness while explaining that they hadn't spotted Ron and Hermione. Or the candy lady. Or any of the Aurors who were supposed to patrol the corridors.

She walked past at least four carriages, heading towards the engine, feeling her magic prick at her skin. Ginny felt hot, as though a fever were descending her. The cold flashes that was the sweat evaporating, didn't make her any more comfortable. Her senses were going haywire.

Either that, or something was actually wrong.

She entered the bogie, the space between two carriages, before the fourth carriage from the engine, and nearly walked right past a weirdo sitting on the dirty floor, mumbling to herself.

Ginny stopped, staring down at the red haired girl in sports gear. There was something very familiar about her. The girl was crouching over a golden train ticket, eyes closed, whispering so fast that it sounded like a constant hiss.

"Hello?" Ginny called, leaning a hand on the door of the train compartment.

The girl looked up, eyes growing wide. Ginny gawked, jaw dropping open.

She looked like Harry. There was no other way to put it. From the brilliance of her green eyes to the way her fringe stuck up over her forehead. Her cheeks were also like his, except they were peppered with dark freckles across her nose as well. She was in shorts, so Ginny could see the freckles on her thighs and knees as well.

This was Rachel.

It was Rachel who'd danced with Ginny during the party, who'd spent hours talking with her on the terrace, who'd snuck a kiss right before she left.

It was Rachel who hadn't mentioned that she was Rachel.

Ginny had to be dreaming. This couldn't be real. What possible reason could there have been for Rachel to show up on the train of all places?

"Ginny?" Rachel breathed out. Her eyes held a kind of awe to it, like she was amazed by Ginny's presence alone.

"Am I dreaming?" Ginny asked.

Rachel blinked. "Oh gods, I hope so. Otherwise, this is actually real. I'm actually on the train!"

Ginny shook her head, stepping back. "What… Elizabeth?"

Rachel winced. "Er… you can call me Rachel."

Ginny swallowed. She glared at her. "Okay, Rachel. What're you doing here?"

"I have no idea."

Ginny took out her wand to point it at Rachel. "How do I know you're not lying to me now?"

Rachel looked hurt. She stared down at the wand before looking up at her. "I'm not lying! I… Ginny, I swear, I'm not!"

She pushed herself off the floor to stand. She stood there, stumbling for a moment as the train shuddered, picking up speed. She was taller than Ginny, so the witch had to look up by an angle. Ginny waited. Whatever explanation this was, it had to be good.

"A mummy sent me here." Rachel said.

Unexpected and fresh.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"A…" Rachel hesitated. "I'm really on the train, aren't I? This… it's the Hogwarts Express? And this ticket is real? Is that how I'm here?"

"I'm asking the questions!" Ginny protested.

"Is this real?" Rachel asked, holding up the ticket. Ginny snatched it from her, looking over it.

"This is Harry's ticket." Ginny said, frowning. His name was printed on the golden sheet, bold. "How'd you get it?"

"He gave it to me?"

Ginny stared. "What… Why would he do that?"

Rachel shrugged, helplessly. She wobbled around like she wanted to collapse again. "He said he missed the train."

That statement didn't feel right. Ginny processed it, reading the ticket again. Before Harry had… died… nobody knew that the castle would be shut down, and the students sent home. He wouldn't know anything about this.

"How did he know that we'd be on the train?" Ginny asked, glaring at Rachel. It wasn't fair. She was really pretty. Ginny didn't know how but Rachel made red-heads look hot.

"He was like omnipotent or something. But he didn't know who'd killed him, so there goes that theory…" Rachel sighed. "I dunno! He gave me the ticket, told me to find where the Patron is, and then this mummy appears and sends me here! What is my life?!"

The train rocked again. Ginny lowered her wand, feeling disbelief of the realization that hit her.

"Rachel… did Harry talk to you _after_ he died?"

Rachel pressed her fingers to the sides of her temple. He widened her eyes and looked around the small space. There were two toilet on either sides of the narrower part of the corridor that connected the fourth and fifth carriages. She looked pale enough and Ginny wondered if she was thinking about barfing up everything she'd had.

"People get train-sick, right?" Rachel asked, her voice high. "That's a thing, isn't it?"

"Rachel, did you have a vision?"

"This is the weirdest dream I've ever had."

"This is real."

"Why am I here?"

"You have a ticket." Ginny raised it. "That explained how you're on the train."

Rachel nodded, closing her eyes. She suddenly swayed, ready to collapse. Ginny jumped forwards to catch her. They leaned by the side of the door. Rachel exhaled, screwing up her face.

"Hey! It's okay. Rachel, it's alright. Don't worry. You're alright." Ginny said, trying to remember the exact words DJ would use if he were here. He was good at calming people down.

"Do you want to see DJ?" Ginny asked, as Rachel started to breathe loudly, sucking in gulps of air. "Come on, we can go over there now."

"Why am I here?" Rachel whispered.

"I don't know. But you need to breathe slowly, Rachel." Ginny tried not to snap at her. "Listen to me, you're panicking. But I'm here. You're okay."

Rachel exhaled with a whimper, but she raised her head, meeting Ginny's gaze. There was an embarrassing silence when both girls saw they were standing too close to each other.

Suddenly, she looked over to the side and said, "What?"

Ginny frowned. "Huh?"

She followed Rachel's gaze and found her looking at a ridiculously small puppy, paw at the door to one of the toilet stalls. The puppy looked vaguely familiar.

"It smells weird." The puppy said. The puppy spoke. Out loud. Ginny nearly jumped when she realized who it was.

"Bolt?" She asked, incredulous.

Bolt turned around giving a short nod. "Hey, Ginny. Been a while. There's someone in here. They smell weird."

"It's a bathroom." Rachel pointed out. She was breathing slower now, so Ginny released her and took a step back, praying she wasn't blushing.

"Yeah, but I can smell blood."

The puppy's words made both girls freeze.

"Like… the bad kind?" Rachel asked in a whisper.

"The very bad kind."

Ginny stepped forwards, holding her wand tightly. She knocked on the door to the stall and said loudly, "Hello? Are you hurt?"

Rachel came to pick up Bolt. She stood right behind Ginny.

"Are they hurt?" Rachel said. "Is there an injury?"

Bolt shook her head. It made Ginny nervous. She could feel her magic threatening to appear in waves around her.

With a deep breath, she willed herself to calm down. Rapping on the door again, she called. "Excuse me, can you open the door? Are you alright?"

There was no answer. Ginny raised her wand to point it at the lock, "Alohomora."

The door slid into its hold and a woman fell on the floor with a dull _thump_.

Ginny and Rachel leaped back, gasping. Bolt was right. It smelled like very bad blood. The woman was in Auror robes, but the skin over her neck was blue, veins popping out. Her eyes had rolled back in her skull showing only the whites, and her entire body seemed stiff.

"Is… is… is… is she dead?" Rachel stammered.

Ginny almost couldn't look away from the woman's neck. It was an ugly sight. But she check the rest of the body, searching for any other indication if she'd been cursed.

"She's an Auror." Ginny whispered. "I… there's supposed to be a team of them in the train. But I haven't seen even one…"

There was a snapping sound from inside the stall. The girls looked at the woman's immobile feet that encased in brown boots. From underneath her robes, something ungainly emerged, clicking its pincers and snapping its multiple legs to climb over the legs and look at them.

Rachel screamed. She backed away and Ginny cried, "Colloportus!"

The door couldn't shut because of the woman's torso that lay in the way. A hairy, brown spider, the size of a quaffle, fumbled out, climbing over the body and heading for them so swiftly that Ginny shrieked, creating a fireball and lobbing it at the spider, without even thinking.

The flames hit it head on, and it squealed in anger and agony. Ginny felt a hand grab her arm and drag her into the compartment. Rachel shut the glass door and they watched the spider stumble and roll about the space, screaming high, and then pitifully before collapsing into a dead heap of blackened soot.

Ginny was shaking. What. The. Hell?

"What was that?" Rachel asked, nearly hyperventilating. "What in the _hell_ was that?!"

"Acromantula." Ginny whispered, staring at the dying flames. "It's a small one."

"SMALL?" Rachel exploded. "That was not small! Small means tiny. THAT WAS THE BIGGEST MOTHER-EFFING SPIDER I HAVE EVER…"

She suddenly trailed off. Ginny turned to spot Rachel go pale, eyes going even wider. "Oh no."

"What?" She demanded.

Rachel swallowed. "I… have seen… bigger spiders."

Ginny stared, "Where?"

"… in my dreams."

With anyone else, that sentence would have earned a tired sigh, because spiders in your nightmares? Lots of people got those. But spiders in a Seer's dreams? That was terrifying. Because Rachel was a Seer. And a Seer always gave warning to bad things to come.

And this was worse than bad, worse than worse. There was a dead Auror, who'd obviously succumbed to the Acromantula's bite. Ginny hadn't seen any other Aurors on her way here. She hadn't seen any adults, save the Seventh years.

"I know why I'm here." Rachel mumbled. "Harry can't help… but Bolt can."

* * *

 _Monday, Dec 3; 2:45 p.m.  
Grimmauld Place, London_

"Why? What's happening?" Sally cried, but Sirius caught her elbow and pulled her away from Nico. They began to whisper furiously. Nico stared at them, stunned.

The outpour of Order members from the hearth finally stopped. There were at least twenty people in the house now, they all went into the kitchen, probably startling Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. Nico caught the sight of several teachers along with Frank Longbottom, as well.

Nico stepped forwards to listen to the conversation which was clearer now.

" – don't know how many in St. Mungo's, but Fudge isn't taking any chances. Cedric and Zack saw it happen and King's with them now. Cedric's fine. But I don't want you getting stuck here. Manhattan is safer, trust me."

Sally exhaled, impatient. But she nodded and turned towards Nico. "Get your bag, Nico. We're leaving after the meeting."

"What? No! You're leaving now!" Sirius insisted, but Sally shook her head.

"Fine! Nico, go home, I'll be there in a bit."

"No, Sally!"

"I have to know how bad it is! We're a team, Sirius!"

May be it was in her expression, or her words. Nico saw Sirius freeze for a moment before deflating. "Okay. Just for now. We're giving you only the highlights. Nico, please, go home!"

"But –"

"I'm come there once I'm done here." Sally reached out to touch his cheek. "I promise. And we'll talk more about… that. Now go."

Nico sighed and nodded. "Okay. But is everyone okay? DJ and the others."

"They should be fine. This happened in London." Sirius said, speaking so fast his words stumbled, "If we act fast, we can contain it there before nightfall."

The couple ushered him towards the floo before turning to leave for the kitchen. Nico stood in front of the soot covered fireplace. His mind was swimming with all the new information he'd learned. It was too much. Barely any of it made complete sense. A Patron and an opponent? With three immortal mortals, each? Jeez.

Nico had barely picked up a handful of floo powder when the hearth erupted into green flames again and Tonks stepped out, nearly bowling him over.

"Woah! Shit! Nico, you okay? I didn't trample you?"

Nico coughed. He'd dropped the floo powder and it poofed up into a smoke over them. Tonks took out her wand in such a hurry that she spilled all her papers on the floor.

He helped her pick them up, but she said, "Everyone's in already?"

"Yeah. There's a meeting now –"

"Give them this!" Tonks shoved her bag towards him. "I need to check on Cedric and Zack!"

"Sirius said that Kingsley's with them!" Nico cried, but Tonks had already grabbed some floo powder and stepped into the hearth. Her dirty face had a fear stricken look and he felt bad for her. Whatever had happened, must have been bad. Well, obviously, it had put the entire country into panic mode.

Nico sighed, looking through the files in his arms. A tiny spark of curiosity arose and he opened one of them. He caught the sight of a burning bus with several people lying limp on a road.

He shut the file immediately, deciding he had enough of seeing dead people. Feeling a little bad, but picking up the other papers, he knew it was better to just leave. He filled up the bag and went into the kitchen, knocking first so they would let him in to take the bag.

"Home. Now." Sally had said and he sighed again, spinning on the spot to leave.

A flash of light caught his eye. Nico looked down and found something shiny right by the rug next to the hearth. It must have fallen out of the bag as well. He picked it up and read the words, slowly and carefully.

 **No. 123**

 **For One Way travel**

 **HOGWARTS TO LONDON**

 **Charlotte Engleton**

It was a Hogwarts train ticket. Nico held it in wonder, looking it over marveling it. It was pretty rad.

And even as he held it, he felt a shiver course down his spine. A long, high moan echoed in the recesses of his head and Nico winced, dropping the ticket. He took a step back, panting from the intense moment.

He stared at the ticket. Nico kneeled down, to pick it up. He could feel the tremor again, trying to concentrate on it. It was fading. He touch the tip of his pointer finger to the page, running it over the words. The tremor was strongest over the second line - **HOGWARTS TO LONDON**

Nico stared down at the letters with a growing sense of dread. Thinking quickly, he found Sally's handbag that had been draped over the couch and took her mirror from it.

"DJ Potter," He called out.

His reflection in the mirror changed to reveal DJ's hand, first, and then his face. Nico watched as DJ held his mirror up to convey a frown.

"Nico? Hey. How… are you alright?"

"Are you okay?" Nico shot back.

DJ looked surprised. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. What's wrong?"

Nico looked back at the closed kitchen door. He whispered, "Something happened in London. Everyone's panicking. There's an Order meeting right now."

"What?" Colin's voice echoed and his face appeared next to DJ's. "What happened?"

"I don't know. But it must be really bad. The Minister's calling a state of emergency or something on the country."

DJ and Colin gawked. "Emergency? Over the whole UK? Why?"

"I don't know!" Nico said. He looked back at the ticket. "I'm getting a seriously bad feeling! Are you guys okay?"

"We're fine here –" DJ abruptly cut himself off and Nico knew why. He could hear screaming through the mirror. There were people on the train, screaming and running.

"DJ!" Nico yelled.

"What…" DJ frowned. "Nico, I'll call you back."

Another tremor ran through his entire body. This one was worse. This felt like many deaths at once. Nico stifled a groan.

"DJ! Stay put! Don't go anywhere!"

"Nico, go back to New York." DJ sounded stiff. He was staring at something off to the side. Colin had disappeared from view and Nico heard several people gasping.

"I'm not going anywhere! Tell me what's happening!"

DJ swore. It was so unexpected that Nico nearly jumped. Suddenly, the mirror fell out of DJ's hand and the image went blank. Nico stared till his own face was looking back at him, reflecting his shock and anguish.

"No!" Something was happening. Something on the train. Nico could hear Bianca's words about the visions and tremors she felt when she knew people were going to die.

And Nico felt tremors when people had died.

He didn't hesitate. Knowing this was an impulse decision, but also not caring about the consequences, Nico gripped the ticket hard and concentrated.

The shadow of the brick laid hearth grew around him, encasing his entire body in its cool embrace. With an exhale, Nico left the house, carrying both the mirror and the ticket with him.

Honestly, it felt like the ticket was helping.

When soft light hit his face, the freezing air of the shadows melting away, Nico opened his eyes and found himself standing in one of the wobbling compartments of the Hogwarts Express.

It'd worked?

* * *

 _Monday, Dec 3; 3:00 p.m.  
Hogwarts Express, Scotland_

"Luna, what's going on?" DJ asked, picking up the mirror. A bunch of second years had run into him right as he'd stepped out of his compartment.

Luna and Colin had gone out to check the disturbance that had risen when Nico had called DJ. With his mind still reeling from the declaration of Emergency over the country, DJ stopped short when he realised that the corridor was blocked by a throng of students, trying to see what had happened outside the carriage.

Luna was near the back as he caught up to her.

"Someone's fallen." She intoned. "Colin's managed to get through, I think."

She sounded worried. DJ felt his nerves prick under his skin. Recalling the nervous energy in Nico's tone, he said, "I heard someone screaming."

"I heard them too."

Colin had fought his way back through the crowd. DJ took a step back to let him have some breathing space.

"You know Dae Iseul? She was at the first meeting with… them."

DJ nodded, registering that Colin was pale and sweaty.

"She found two of the Aurors." Colin hissed. His eyes had gone huge; he was shaking. "They're dead!"

Luna let out a breath that let DJ knew what exactly she was feeling. Horror and fear was moulded into a compact unbreathable object that felt lodged in their throats.

"What." DJ said, more of a quiet statement than a question.

That's why Nico had called. He'd felt that. He'd known something was happening.

A few others around them gasped. They'd heard what Colin had said. Panic flew through the crowd and DJ was harshly reminded of the village when the panic inducing curse had struck them all. It had nearly caused a stampede.

"Inside!" DJ hissed, grabbing Colin and Luna's arms. He pulled them back into their compartment, watching as the other teenagers were running away from the scene while even more were coming up to block the hallway even more. DJ shut the door and the three of them watched through the glass.

A loud voice shattered through everyone's ears. DJ winced clapping his hands over the sides of his face.

"EVERYONE LISTEN UP!" Marcus Turner's voice sounded like words coming out of an air horn. "I WANT ALL OF YOU TO GO BACK TO YOUR COMPARTMENTS! STAY WITH YOUR GROUPS! NO ONE IS TO WANDER AWAY! ALL PREFECTS REPORT TO ME NOW!"

Luna stood up, back straight and breathing shallow. "Ginny's out there alone!"

"No!" Colin cried. He yanked open the sliding door and was nearly bowled over by the teens running away from Marcus. DJ rushed forwards to stop people from colliding into him.

Marcus spotted them from the front of the carriage. "GET BACK IN, YOU TWO!"

"But Ginny's not here!" Colin yelled. "She went out to search for the candy lady!"

From another compartment, the door slid open and Fred and George stepped out, looking absolutely terrified.

"When did she leave?" One of them called out, running towards the fourth years.

"Nearly half hour ago." Colin winced as Fred caught his shoulder in a painful grip. DJ smacked his hand away.

"We need to find her. And Ron and Hermione too. I haven't seen them the whole time." DJ said.

Marcus approached them. A vein in his forehead was bulging. Alex Sykes was still near the end of the carriage, consoling a sobbing Dae, and listing instructions for the other prefects. DJ couldn't see Ron or Hermione in the mix.

"We're going." George told Marcus. There was no room for negotiation in his steely voice.

"We're sending the prefects to search –"

"Two of the prefects have not reported to your command, and there are hundreds of kids on the train. You'll need help." Fred said, and DJ waited for Marcus to cave.

He did. Marcus gave a short sigh and said, "Alright. Seventh years only. Round up as many as you can, put up shield charms. Make sure that everyone stays in their compartment. If you find anyone wandering around, put them in with people they know. Work with the prefects. Who has an owl here?"

"I do!" DJ cried. He raised his arm and called out, "Garth!"

His faithful little owl flew from his perch by the window. Garth had stayed quiet the whole time, mostly because Hedwig hadn't been with him. Harry's owl had been so distraught after they'd found her master's map and cloak outside the school gates that Sirius had taken her to Grimmauld Place.

"Send a letter to Sirius Black." Marcus said. "My patronus isn't working for some reason – "

"There's a shield." Luna said, interrupting them. Everyone turned to look at her, but she was staring out the window.

"What?"

"The…" she pointed out. "Someone's put a shield around the train."

DJ gaped at her. Fred gave a sharp cough. "Luna, we're on a moving train. You can't put a shield around a moving object this big."

Luna frowned. "It's not grounded to the earth."

Marcus stepped into the compartment to open the window. But no matter how much he tried to lift the pane, even with spells, the glass didn't budge.

"We couldn't open the windows, either." George commented. "We thought it was part of the security measures."

Marcus muttered something under his breath and walked out to yell at Alex down the corridor. "Can you open the door?!"

Alex looked up, eyebrows drawn together. She pointed at the main door that they'd used to climb on the train. Marcus nodded and she got up, pointing her wand at it.

She frowned. She waved her hand, trying other spells. Alex tried the door opposite the first, as well. Then she shook her head and yelled, "They're rune locked!"

DJ's heart sped up. This was planned. There was no way they could just break through runes. Only the caster or an experienced Runologist would know how to go about it.

"We're locked in?" Colin whispered, stunned. Luna placed a hand on her arm.

George turned to Fred. "Call Lee. We need to find Ginny, Ron, and Hermione."

DJ watched as the seventh years started to gather on the other side of the carriage. He didn't like waiting with nothing to do. He turned and saw Alex placing a hand on a red faced Dae who was rubbing tears off her face. DJ headed towards them.

"DJ, no heroics." Alex practically barked when she saw him approach.

"It's not… I'm not Harry." DJ mumbled. "Just wanted to check with Dae. Hey, are you okay?"

Dae looked up, glaring at him. "No! I just saw a man die! Right while he was trying to talk to me!"

She gave an agonising hiccup and burst into tears again. Alex shot DJ a glare before trying to pat her.

"I'm sorry! I… do you have a place to sit? You can stay with us."

Alex looked surprise, as though she hadn't expected good behaviour from him. "That sounds okay. Dae, do you want to stay with them?"

Luna and Colin stood right by DJ, giving her a bright smile and a hesitant shrug, respectively. Dae rubbed her eyes furiously before nodding.

Alex left almost immediately, probably to deal with the bodies. The four was back in the compartment. Colin offered her a chocolate frog and she accepted it with a small smile.

DJ wanted to ask her about what she'd seen, but knew that was too insensitive. Thankfully, Luna sat beside her and asked, "You weren't sitting in this carriage?"

Dae bit of the head of the wriggling frog. "No. I was searching for Astoria. She said they had orders to sit with their dorm mates only, but I thought I'd just pop in and see her. I search the entire end of the train and was just walking through when…

She cut herself off with a small shudder. Taking another bite of the frog, she sat back and said no more.

"DJ Potter!" Nico's voice came from the mirror, again. DJ scrambled to pick it up.

"Nico! I forgot about the mirror! Look, I need you to tell Sirius – "

"I can't really do that right now." Nico said. His face was in a grimace like he was exerting pressure on something. DJ leaned in, frowning at the surroundings. Nico's face was rather close to the camera, so he couldn't see anything else, but the image in the mirror kept shaking as though Nico was running and couldn't keep the mirror steady.

"Where are you?" DJ asked, standing up.

"I… I'm in 9. Right at the entrance."

"Nine?" DJ bent his head, an ache forming on the nape of his neck. "Nine what?"

"It's numbered nine." He was gritting his teeth.

"What's n –"

"The ninth car of the train!" Nico yelled, frustrated. "I found all the Aurors!"

DJ stopped short of opening the door. "YOU'RE ON THE TRAIN?!"

"YEAH, I'M ON THE TRAIN!" Nico shouted. The mirror was suddenly dropped and all he could see was the ceiling, but Nico's voice was still clear. "AND I'M BUSY WITH A SPIDER THE SIZE OF A DRESSER!"

DJ didn't even stop to think. He dropped the mirror and ran out, ignoring what Luna and Colin were yelling behind him. He ran in the opposite direction of where they'd found the two Aurors, in the route to the engine. He could hear the screaming now. People were huddled inside individual compartments, but peered out to see growing shadows trying to engulf a spider bigger than anything DJ had ever seen, right there in the bogie.

He took out his wand, mid sprint, and waved it at the door to open it. Bracing himself and feeling his skin turn to iron, DJ tore through the shadows, and body-slammed into the side of the spider's enormous abdomen.

He felt one of the legs try to clip his face, but immediately threw himself to the side to avoid any more contact with the arachnid. The monster hit the wall with a force that shook both carriages, and probably the entire train.

Nico dropped to his knees clearly out of breath at having to hold the acromantula at bay.

"It… the shadows barely affected it!" Nico gasped.

"Acromantulae live in the dark, Nico!" DJ yelled, pulling him up to his feet. Before he could even think of reprimanding, the spider got to its feet, a little shaky, but shrieking up a storm. DJ pulled up a shield and watched as the spider collided into it face first. DJ winced, feeling the shield flicker under the strain.

He'd learned duelling moves from books that said an experienced dueller would use their wand arm to shoot spells and the other arm to defend themselves. DJ didn't think he could hold a shield with only one arm at the moment, though.

He couldn't hold it for very long. But Nico brought out his sword and struck, just as the shield fell. The black blade sunk into the monster's belly with a sickening squelch. The acromantula screamed, legs flailing, but Nico held fast, gripping the hilt and slicing upwards in a swift move.

The entire spider vaporised into a brown mist that filtered right into Nico's sword. DJ coughed at the disgusting odour that cropped up as the soul was devoured by the Stygian iron.

"It grew…" Nico panted. "…in size… while I was watching! Do magical spiders do that?!"

"What?" DJ wheezed. "It can't just grow like that! It takes months for them to grow. Unless someone cast _Engorgio_ , that wouldn't happen!"

Nico glared at him. He looked ridiculously underprepared in his black t-shirt and pale shorts. He looked even more silly with the sword by his side.

"Tell that to him!"

Nico pointed towards one of the bathroom stalls. DJ hesitated at the sight of the fierce look on Nico's face, but he walked ahead to peer in the stall…

…and nearly threw up in his mouth.

There were at least five men stuffed into the tiny toilet, along with a body that was missing everything from the waist above. Blood leaking onto the floor like a tap had broken and DJ could see the bones jutting out from –

He turned around, bent over and tried to breathe. It didn't work, instead, bile came up and he vomited over the side.

"I felt this!" Nico said, staring at a spot on the floor. "I could feel them dying. When I got here, the spider was tiny. But it saw me and just grew bigger. And then it chomped him off –"

"Stop." DJ rasped. Merlin, Nico could be as bad as Harry in times of stress.

The door rattled and DJ looked up, wiping his mouth. Luna and Colin were looking through the glass at him. DJ was glad they couldn't see the bodies. He stepped over his puke and slid the door shut, carefully looking away.

"Did you lock this?" Nico asked, trying to open the door to the carriage he'd just come from. DJ frowned, "No."

He saw what Nico meant. Luna and Colin couldn't get through the door. DJ stepped forwards to yank on the handle, but it stayed solidly jammed.

Remembering something, DJ waved his wand around the door. His little spell uncovered a neat boundary of runes, all around the door.

"Damn! I must have activated it when I ran through it!" DJ cursed. "Stand back!"

Nico waved at Luna who pulled Colin away from the door. DJ shook his shoulder to make them less tense. Then with a hunched pose, he snapped his wand towards the door handle, yelling, " _Confringo!_ "

The curse hit the handle and bounced off, right past Nico to hit the wall. Nothing shattered. The door remained shut.

Colin made a motion with his hand, holding up DJ's mirror. There was no sound coming from inside. Dj watched as Nico picked up his mirror to call them.

"Why was there an Acromantula on the train?!" Colin screamed.

"I don't know!" DJ yelled back. "How many Aurors were supposed to be here?!"

"What? Like seven?"

"No, there were fourteen, I think." Luna said, frowning.

"Only fourteen? For the whole train?"

"Eight of them are dead." DJ cut across them. Luna and Colin froze. There were people gathering behind them, trying to look through the glass or into the mirror.

"There are six in this stall." DJ pointed back at the bathroom. "Dae found two."

"I did!" Dae said, having made her way to the front to stand beside Luna. "Their skin was blue, you know. Like they'd suffocated."

"Or bitten." Nico said. "That's what happened to Harry in that tournament, right?"

The flash back to the Third Task to the TriWizard Tournament was unpleasant. DJ remembered Bolt bringing back a hysteric Percy and an unresponsive Harry, remembered feeling like the air had been crushed out of his lungs –

"Yeah…" He knew his voice was shaking. "Their venom is powerful and painful. You'd be dead within the hour."

There was a gasp from behind them. DJ and Nico swivelled, drawing out their weapons, only to face a startled little girl, even shorter than Nico. She had been staring at Nico's sword and the blood that had pooled on the ground outside the stall.

DJ walked towards her, leaning around to look into carriage number eight. Everyone he could see looked to be first years. They were too tiny to be anything else.

"Acromantulae horde their prey." DJ whispered to himself. That's what the arachnid had been doing when Nico had interrupted it. It had been dragging the bodies into the stall to devour it later, at peace.

"Dae!" DJ called. "Where did you find the Aurors? Where they in the bathroom stalls?"

"Yeah!" She sounded surprised.

"Did you see an Acromantula?"

"No…"

"It must have wandered off." DJ said. He looked down at the girl standing beside him. "Okay. Alright, here's the plan. You guys, get the prefects or the Seventh years to search all the bathrooms or any hiding places big enough to fit a body or a large spider in. Make sure to lock those places. Use a rune if you have to."

Colin looked up. "And what about you and Nico?"

"We're going to secure each carriage, up until the engine." DJ looked at Nico, who nodded, determined.

"DJ!" Luna called. "Are you sure?"

"They won't be able to bite me." DJ said, trying to inject as much confidence into his voice as he could. "And Nico's got the best kind of sword there is… Actually –"

He turned to face Nico. "You can shadow travel out of the train, can't you?"

Nico shrugged, "Yeah. That's how I got in."

DJ grinned. "Okay. How many people can you take?"

"On one trip, I can take up to three… but if I keep taking three and coming back here, I'll tire out."

"Then we find the injured ones who're alive. You can get them to St. Mungo's and tell the staff there. Colin, you call Sirius and tell him what's going on."

"He's gonna ground you." Colin said, trying to make it light.

DJ almost laughed.

The two boys helped the girl get back into her compartment. They checked the rest of the carriage, making sure that none of them were hurt. There were no spiders hiding there, so that was a plus point too. They told the oldest of the lot to close the door and not allow anyone else in. Moving on to carriage seven was easy, the stalls were empty and DJ hoped that they'd find these results along the rest of the train.

The problem arrived in carriage number six.

Nico was the one who could smell the blood and death. He froze right outside the door, grabbing DJ's arm.

"Which stall?" DJ whispered, raising his wand.

"Not the stalls. I… the entire car, I think."

They approached the glass door. It was shut, but the crack in the pane told the story. DJ could smell it now.

Someone was lying on the ground, not moving. It was one of the sixth years who played on the Hufflepuff Quidditch team. DJ couldn't remember the name at the moment, and he didn't try to. He was too busy staring at the small army of Quaffle sized, brown haired spiders, clicking their pincers horrifying ly, and roaming around the middle of the carriage.

He exhaled. His heart beat faster than it ever had before. This was even worse than seeing the basilisk's eye reflected in Hermione's mirror, even worse than Rome when they'd all fought in the Embassy. He thought about what Harry would do. Or even Percy. They would charge in and destroy all the spiders without batting an eyelash.

DJ placed a palm on the door handle, before looking back at Nico, "Ready?"

Nico nodded, tight-lipped.

* * *

Rachel felt partly numb, partly shocked. Now that she'd somewhat surmised the reason she was here, she felt quite like a pawn. It wasn't fun. It was like she was just there to replace Harry.

"I can't get out." Bolt said, frustrated after her attempts to teleport failed. Rachel ran a hand through her pelt, trying to soothe her.

Ginny looked back at the empty carriage they'd taken refuge in. After the spider had burned to a crisp, Rachel suggested finding other people, but there was nobody in carriage number four. It was completely devoid of human presence and by the look on Ginny's face, Rachel knew that it was odd at the least.

"Some people might have flooed home." Ginny tried to reason. "I mean, it was pretty last minute, but if DJ had the time to meet up with you before leaving, some of the students could have left too."

"Sure."

Bolt perked her head up. "I can smell them."

"Smell… what?"

"The Acromantulae." Bolt gave a growl, jumping from Rachel's arms and transforming into a large, hunched tiger. Ginny let out a gasp and backed into the window, wand out and raised. Rachel grabbed her arm.

Bolt was staring at the bogie they'd run from. Rachel and Ginny tried to look through the glass, searching for more spiders, when they saw it.

It was big. Bigger than Rachel's dream.

Its head brushed against the ceiling, which made all eight legs, each the size of an industrial strength iron pipe, bend to accommodate its size into the small space. Its body could have crushed a regular car, just by sitting on it. Rachel and Ginny had frozen in terror for a moment.

It was so huge that Rachel could make out its black beady eyes. She could smell the dirt and blood from its body. The fangs or pincers seemed to be coated with dark liquid, that she knew was blood, but wanted to refuse that truth.

The Acromantula made a few clicking noises before actually surging forwards to break into the door. Rachel and Ginny screamed, backing away. But Bolt flew ahead, just as its head broke through the glass. Bolt's claws cut through its face, probably blinding most of its eyes. The spider shrieked, spun in place to launch Bolt in the opposite direction.

" _Run!"_

Bolt's one-worded command tore through her fear. Rachel grabbed Ginny's arm and they ran across the empty carriage, exiting it with a brief moment of relief. The break was over when Ginny turned and nearly tripped over another body.

"Oh gods!" Rachel backed away. She couldn't look away from the old woman who had collapsed right outside the entrance of carriage four. Her soft blue sweater was ripped and coated in blood. Beside her was an empty overturned trolley. Ginny steadied herself, catching a breath and kneeling down.

"Where's Bolt?" She asked, and Rachel turned her head to the side to listen to her Familiar's thoughts.

Pain burst right below her left knee. Rachel screamed, clutching her leg and crumpling to the floor.

"Bolt!"

It bit her. It bit Bolt. Rachel could feel fire burning through her limb. She felt the pain her Familiar was in, could almost feel phantom fangs piercing into her flesh, trying to inject as much venom into the limb as possible.

Bolt was screaming too, she thrashed around, pinned to the ground, and Rachel could feel the entire limb going numb –

There was another flash and bang. Suddenly, the heavy weight of the spider disappeared. Rachel gasped, opening her eyes to stare at Ginny's terrified face.

"It got her." Rachel mumbled, trying to find her voice again. She shut her eyes, trying to find Bolt's voice, when she felt relief course though the tiger's body.

"Ron and Hermione!" Rachel coughed, sitting up. "They found her!"

" _I ran into Ron and Hermione. They're here… They're with the second years."_ Bolt explained, breathing heavily. _"It shrunk down and crawled into the stall!"_

"It shrunk?" She asked in disbelief. "They can do that?"

"Do what?" Ginny asked, helping Rachel stand. The pain in her leg retreated, but she could still feel the after-shocks of it.

"They found you?"

" _Yeah. I can't move, Rachel. You need to get to a safe spot."_

"We will." Rachel turned back to Ginny. "She found Ron and Hermione. Think it's safe to walk back to carriage five?"

Ginny was staring past Rachel, looking down the corridor they'd run from. Rachel felt the dread build in her, knowing what was there.

She turned around and saw a small spider. It was tiny compared to what they'd seen. Probably the size of a hockey puck.

The spider clicked its fangs. It started to grow.

Its legs lengthened, growing bulk, its abdomen and back weighed heavy, and its front simply elongated, hanging down. Rachel spotted angry red slashes across its face. It was as big as it had been before Bolt attacked it.

It threw itself forwards, crashing through the entire corridor. Ginny hurled another fire spell at it, but it did nothing. The flames bounced off, making it madder than before.

"Run!" Rachel screamed, grabbing her arm and rushing through to carriage three.

It was empty too. They sprinted across, pushing their legs as hard as they could, reaching the end in record time.

They crashed into the door to carriage two.

It was not empty. There were people, dozen of teens milling about inside, looking mildly bothered.

"OPEN THE DOOR!" Ginny yelled.

One of them stood in front of the door and waved his hands, shaking his head.

"WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?!"

Rachel turned around, the spider was closing in. It had to squeeze through the low ceiling, but it was succeeding. She felt sick, not only of the rocking of the train, travelling at high speeds, but also by the sight of the monster so intent on eating her.

Ginny stepped back and pointed her wand at the door. Her curse bounced off the handle like a crazy ball. The spider was clicking madly, shrieking wild sounds. Rachel felt her heart leap in her throat.

"GET OUT!" Ginny said. She was panicking. Rachel jumped back in record time as Ginny's entire body was suddenly covered in a bright orange haze. A blast emerged from her hands, almost unconsciously. It hit the main door, blowing it off its hinges.

The flames died down as Ginny grabbed Rachel's arm, and they jumped out of the train.

* * *

 **Finally, something's happening. Stay tuned, folks.**

 **Q: What is Ginny's best spell in canon?**

 **Cabba.**


	51. Marionette

**A: Yes, Ginny's proficient with the Bat Bogey hex in the books, and the movies show her strength in the Reducto curse.**

 **Lady among the trees: Thanks, and right answers! Since we see the movies as canon, Bat Bogey and Reducto is correct, and pretty awesome. (I'm guessing they didn't want to show the former on screen, and it's much cooler for Ginny to absolutely destroy something, eh?)**

 **Catie Cat: Right one. And guessing Ajax is actually pretty smart. He wasn't the perpetrator behind the train, though. You'll find out later if he did make an appearance in the story, even if I haven't mentioned him directly :)  
It's true about the schooling though. Not a lot of parents will want to send their kids back. This is going to be a huge setback.**

 **evenstarlily: Yup! You're right with that answer. Here's the update, this one doesn't end on a terrifying note like 50. Even so… *evil chuckle***

 **Guest: Thank you so much! Correct answer. Yes! Absolutely, I enjoyed writing Sky, will definitely bring him back (but not in this story), can't do without some drama. You'll love Harry's reaction to seeing him again.**

 **Note : About the poll on my bio page, it says someone's gonna die in this story… right, I meant, someone's going to die in this story, and will stay dead. Which means, Harry is scratched off the list. 'Cause he can't stay dead. 'Cause he's the bi-who-** _ **lived**_ **, not died.**

 **Note 2 : My series will have queer relationships, in case you thought I was just testing waters.  
BTW have you heard? India has legalised homosexuality! After more than 150 years of considering queerness as an 'unnatural offence'; this is a huge step on the road to equality!**

 **Heads up: Chapter 52 will not be posted until after the next week. I'm booked for the fortnight.**

 **Warning: Violence.**

 **Listening to:** _ **Friction**_ **by Imagine Dragons**

* * *

 _Monday, Dec 3; 3:20 p.m._  
 _Hogwarts Express, Scotland_

Being a steam engine, the Hogwarts Express had always had old world charm attached to it. The train also had old red painted iron rungs attached to the side of some of its doors.

When Ginny had been younger, she'd imagined running after the train to jump and hold onto the iron ladder, so that she could go to Hogwarts with her brothers.

Right now, as the monstrous spider had charged at them, Ginny had panicked, unconsciously summoning her magic. The problem with her Core power, was that if she couldn't keep her head, everyone and everything around her could be incinerated. Any experienced witch would have been able to direct that kind of energy at the Acromantula, thus ending the problem within seconds, but Ginny had been frightened. When flames engulfed her body, there had been no pain. Of course, fire never hurt her. She was always afraid of hurting people around her.

She was standing close to Rachel. The carriage behind her had dozens of kids. What if she tried to send all that fire at the spider and ended up burning down the entire train?

Solution: Direct the fire at the door.

Ginny screamed. She merely looked at the solidly locked door of the train, could see the green scenery whip by at a tremendous speed. The flames shot forward swallowing up the entirety of the door, blasting shining etches that had been made all around it. The door exploded outwards, its hinges melting down completely. The noise seared Ginny's ears, wreaking havoc on her brain. The sound was indescribable and thunderous. The moment the door fell away, Ginny felt the fire recede.

Her ears were probably bleeding, but she moved, reaching back to grab Rachel's arm, pulling the girl towards her. Faced with the decision of confronting a spider larger than life, or jumping out a moving train, Ginny knew that Rachel's thoughts would mirror hers.

Both girls leapt out, feeling the wind hit their faces for a brief second. But Ginny swung around, dragging Rachel out of the entrance. They grabbed the iron ladder that ran right behind the door space, pressing themselves to the body of the carriage, just as the spider squeeze out of the rectangular space.

Ginny gasped, panic flaring again when she thought it was going to attack them, but the flailing legs of the spider slipped from the train and fell.

It hit an invisible barrier, not five feet from the train's body. Rachel cringed and Ginny tucked her head as far away as possible from the flash of sparks that was thrown up from contact.

The Acromantula shrieked in agony. Whatever barrier surrounded the train, was burning its huge body. The hairs singed, its legs crumpled, breaking into pieces. Blood was rampant in the air as it boiled and evaporated. Ginny held her breath because a viscous smoke arose from the burning body. Within seconds, the entire corpse had turned to ash, and the ash drifted away into nothingness.

She was still holding on to the ladder, feet pressed on the lowest rung. The iron bars were digging into her front, but Ginny didn't dare open her eyes or even move.

Finally, she heard Rachel's gasp.

"G…Gin…" Rachel was crying. Her arm was still gripped in Ginny's other hand.

Her eyes shot open when she realized why Rachel was trying to pull away from her.

"SHIT!" Ginny swore, yanking her palm away from Rachel's arm, but the damage was already done. There was a terrible palm shaped burn on her forearm, right below the wrist. Ginny's magic had begun to nearly melt the skin. Rachel clutched her arm close to her chest, sobbing.

"Oh Merlin, I'm so sorry!" Ginny cried, but Rachel just turned away, hiccupping against the pain.

Shit, shit, shit, Ginny had screwed up!

"Rachel! I'm so sorry… damn it! Don't touch it!"

Rachel coughed, wincing as she brushed against the singed edges. Ginny cursed herself. Of course, Rachel got hurt. Of course, Ginny screwed up.

She looked back to stare at the space in the air where she knew the barrier was. Ginny reached up to touch her black crystal necklace, the Ministry issued Portkey. It hadn't worked when they'd first escaped the spider, when Bolt had still been with them. Ginny had tested it, after Bolt had failed to teleport out of the train.

Nothing could leave. Now, Ginny knew why.

"Rachel? Can you… can you get back in the train?" Ginny tried to lower her voice, tried to sound soothing.

Rachel had pressed her forward against a cool iron rung. She still had a death grip on the ladder and Ginny didn't blame her. She didn't want to move anywhere, either. But they were still clinging onto the side of the train, dangerously close to a cursed ward that could kill anyone who touched it.

With a painful heave, Rachel pushed off the ladder, leaning to the side and sliding a foot back into the door space. Ginny followed her, carefully keeping close to the train, till they were both safely inside the spider infested locomotive.

Rachel leaned against a wall, panting and gingerly holding her bruised arm. Ginny winced.

"I'm sorry." She whispered. "I wasn't thinking, I just… there's a spell that can be used to subdue Acromantulae and I couldn't remember it! I'm not like DJ, I'm sorry!"

Rachel tilted her head down to look at her, but before she could say anything, a sharp series of knocking, startled the both of them.

Ginny looked up and saw Draco Malfoy standing inside carriage number two, looking at them through the glass half of the door. He was breathing heavily, looking absolutely flabbergasted and furious. He knocked on the glass again, mouth opening to speak, but Ginny couldn't hear the words.

"What?"

He said a long sentence. Ginny frowned. Why was…

She hit the side of the door, her fist flaring with bright flames. The magic was enough to illuminate a string of what looked like ancient symbols all around the inner door.

Runes, Ginny thought. It had locked a bunch of students inside the carriage, sound proof and all…

She turned back to stare at the main door that she'd just blown open. It had had runes as well.

Holy shit, had she just broken through a rune-locked door?

* * *

The train shook ominously. Hermione thought she heard an explosion from far off.

She looked up from bandaging Bolt's leg. One of the spiders had managed to bite the Familiar's flank. She had been bleeding profusely when she'd teleported right into carriage 12, startling several second years who had been hiding with Hermione and Ron.

"Did you hear that?" Ron whispered, looking up at the window. He'd had his wand out, almost ready to fight, but Hermione knew that his fear of spiders would eventually win out. He was pale and shaking, yet trying to look comforting for the kids.

"It sounded like a blast." Dennis Creevey whispered. He was huddled by Ron, hand gripping the prefect's shirt.

"But quite far off, I reckon." Hermione said, trying to sound upbeat. "You know what? I bet it's someone blasting a spider."

A girl who'd tried to hid in the corner gave a violent shudder.

When Hermione and Ron had boarded the train, they'd planned to stay in one compartment and not leave. They already received pitying and frightened looks all through the day when news about Harry's death had broken out. Ron had been close to cursing someone and Hermione had known the feeling. They had planned to stay away from prying eyes, trying to settle themselves. DJ had told them how Harry wasn't _dead_ dead, and Hermione wished she didn't know what that meant, but she did.

Either way, with the bracelet keeping Harry not-actually-dead, she had wanted to stay with Ron to regain some of their sanity before entering Grimmauld Place.

Everything went wrong when they'd heard strange noises coming from the luggage compartments in the carriage right behind theirs.

In all honesty, Hermione had to say that Hagrid was crazy to ever have brought Aragog to the castle. Acromantula eggs were not cute. The tiny, just born spiders were not adorable.

The magical ability of said spiders to enlarge and shrink were nowhere close to endearing.

It was hard to tell how many eggs had been stacked away behind the multiple student trunks. They had been the size of bludgers, quivering as the shells cracked and out poured at least a score of hand sized Acromantula, effectively giving Hermione enough nightmare fuel to last months. She didn't want to think of what it would do to Ron.

They'd managed to seal the carriage before rushing into their compartment to reiterate that what they had seen, had been real. By the time they had confirmed it, Hermione realized that their coach had been locked. They were stuck in number 12 along with at least forty second years, mere metres away from a locked carriage with size changing Acromantula.

The worst part was that the luggage space hadn't been the only place where the eggs had been stored away.

One of Dennis's friends had found two eggs underneath a seat space. Ron had gone crazy shooting several slicing charms at the pair, till all that was left was disgusting white, red, and brown mush that smelled.

And if the chaos that reigned through the train was any indication, Hermione knew that there were more spiders loose.

Some of the second years had been bit, nearly all of them traumatized, and Hermione had just been going spare when Bolt had literally flashed into the compartment, dragging a bleeding limb.

She hadn't seen Bolt in months. Harry had said that his Familiar had moved on to another person. Hermione hadn't even known it was possible for Familiars to choose another person before the previous one died.

Then again… Harry had died during the third task…

Stop!

Turns out Bolt had chosen Rachel of all people. Huh.

"So you can't leave the train, but you can move between the rune-locked carriages?" Ron asked, Bolt. He looked like he had an idea.

Bolt looked down at her bleeding leg. She'd turned back into a puppy, having lost the energy after attacking the spider. "Not like this. I'd collapse."

Hermione sighed, leaning back. She'd been able to clean out the wound, but the venom was still in Bolt's body. As a shape-shifting Familiar, Bolt would be able to resist its effects for a couple more hours than the average puppy, or tiger. But she still needed medical treatment. A lot of them needed that.

"We have to send a message to someone. The Ministry, or the teachers." Hermione said. Ron groaned, because it was the third time she'd said that.

"Hermione –"

"I know, I know. Everything's blocked. But there's obviously a loophole in the runes. Bolt must have travelled into the train. If that's not strictly possible, then –

"Technically, that wasn't me." Bolt panted, wincing at the burn of the venom. She shifted on her spot on the seat.

Ron stared. "Then how'd you get here?"

"Let's just say it was some other wordly magic." Bolt said, shooting a quick look at the other kids listening into the conversation.

Hermione nearly gasped. Was… could she be talking about the demigods?

There was a noise like a stampede from outside the carriage. Ron looked up, face clearing when he saw Fred and George stop outside.

"The book! Dennis, where's the pencil?!"

"Here!" he handed over a plain rough note and a pencil. Ron quickly scribbled, **ANY LUCK?** And showed it to his brothers who waited on the other side of the half glass sliding door. The carriage was soundproofed to the outside world. Which was a testament to the noise of the explosion that they'd all heard, just minutes ago.

George's hasty scrawl on a roll of parchment spelled out, **NO. NOTHING'S GETTING OUT. NO OWLS, LETTERS. CAN'T OPEN WINDOWS OR DOORS.**

Hermione said, "Ask about the explosion!"

Ron wrote the question down to show it to them. Fred and George shrugged.

 **JUST HAPPENED. ALEX'LL FIND OUT. BUT CARRIAGE 9 RUNE-LOCKED. CAN'T GET PAST.**

"Damn it!" Ron muttered. He wrote, **FOUR BITTEN HERE. BOLT TOO.**

The twins looked at him curiously and Hermione stepped aside for them to see Rachel's Familiar, the little golden puppy, lying on the seat of the first compartment, with labored breathing.

They gaped.

 **WTF?**

"Yeah." Ron said, writing down, **FOUND AURORS?**

They grimaced, looking at each other for a bit before George wrote, **TWELVE DEAD. THREE BITTEN. SPIDERS WENT FOR THEM, MISSION-LIKE.**

Hermione gasped. She hadn't known that people had died on the train. Her ears were filled with a hot roaring sound of blood pumping and a pit formed in her stomach and she felt the heaviness wanting to pull her down to collapse. Ron had frozen, but he'd tried to write down his next question with shaking hands.

 **ANYONE PAST 9?**

Fred winced but George had a hard face as he answered with, **DJ, NICO**.

"What?" Hermione shrieked. "DJ? And who's Nico?"

George read her lips and wrote the message, **DI ANGELO, BLACK SWORD.**

Ron nearly dropped the book. Hermione stared.

Shadow travel! Power worthy of a god would be able to get through the runes! Hermione was almost ecstatic before realizing that Nico was eleven, even younger than all the second years that were hiding with Ron and her.

Demigod or not, Nico wasn't supposed to be here.

"Harry and Percy would be pissed if they knew." Ron whispered. Hermione contemplated the combined forces of the two boys before shuddering. True.

 **NICO CAN LEAVE?** Ron wrote down for the twins to see.

Fred nodded. George wrote, **TOOK KIDS - MUNGO, TIRED. FOUGHT LOT IN 6. KILLED MOST SPIDERS.**

Hermione grabbed the book from Ron, quickly writing, **HIS SWORD. CAN IT CUT RUNES?**

Fred and George looked intrigued. It was clear they hadn't thought of it. George wrote, **DIDN'T ASK. GOOD IDEA.**

The train shook again. Hermione and Ron caught each other before they could fall.

"Shit!" Ron stared out the windows. "Did we run over something?"

"No…" Hermione followed his gaze, to look at the passing country side. Something felt off. She was so used to seeing the scenery on all of her Hogwarts rides that she could tell that they were in trouble, she wasn't sure what exactly –

"We're going really fast." Nigel Wolpert, Dennis' friend, said. He was biting his nails, staring outside too.

Hermione swallowed. "Faster than usual?"

Nigel hesitated. "Yeah… Why doesn't the conductor just stop the train?"

"In the middle of nowhere?" Dennis asked, fearfully.

"May be he wants to reach London fast. He probably knows that we're in trouble –"

Hermione cut across Ron, grabbing his arm to get his attention, "George said that the spiders went after the Aurors."

Ron exhaled, "Yeah…"

"What if they went after the conductor, as well? What if there's no one in the engine?"

She could see the devastation and panic grow in his eyes. Hermione bit her lip, wishing she hadn't phrased it so horrifyingly like that.

"That… the engine would be protected, right? May be he's alright –"

"Or may be we're on a runaway train with no brakes. We've been accelerating for nearly half an hour. The train doesn't usually go this fast."

Ron took a step back, pressing his head against the window behind him. With a grunt he took the book the book from Hermione and scribbled down, practically ripping into the paper.

 **GET NICO IN ENGINE. STOP TRAIN NOW!**

* * *

"Heads up!" DJ roared, ducking beneath a spider's overgrown leg and kicking it off its balance. Nico spun in place, nearly as smooth as a dancer, swinging his sword in the perfect arc to slice right through the spider's neck.

DJ got to his feet, trying to catch his breath as he braced himself. The next monster had shrunk to the size of a regular tarantula.

It wasn't the only one. The little horde of Acromantulae, at least twenty of them, all shrunk down, too tiny for Nico to cut through all of them at once, too fast for DJ to stun them all with a single spell.

"Arania Exumai! Maxima!"

He stunned a section of them, but they leaped to the walls, sticking to any and surfaces they could. One of them got close enough to climb on DJ's leg. He nearly screamed. They scuttled around maddening and repugnant. DJ felt his skin crawl and nearly jumped when he thought there was one in his hair.

"DJ, behind you!" Nico yelled.

DJ couldn't even turn to see the towering Acromantula. All he felt was it's body, crashing into him, trying to knock him to the ground. He wasn't thrown down, but he did nearly throw up, feeling its hairy body so close, smelling the pungent odour of a dozen smells of decay, blood, and just plain monster.

Something in him was close to snapping. DJ gasped, threw his arms to cover his head and screamed, "NICO, GET DOWN!"

He didn't check to see if Nico did, but he acted anyway. DJ unleashed the tight coil that had been in his gut, pure energy snapping out of his hands like a rubber band that had reached its maximum length. Blood roared in his ears. He might have been screaming.

Silence descended in the next second. DJ inhaled as deep as he could before breathing out, trying to settle his racing heart. He could hear the angry squealing of a dozen spiders, the mad clicking of pincers, the sobbing of many of the students who'd been trapped in carriage 6 with a literal army out to devour them.

He also heard a shaky exhale.

"Cou… couldn't you… have done that in the first place?" Nico gasped, kneeling on the floor and catching a moment's rest.

DJ looked up, unable to stop shaking, still reeling from the amount of power he'd put in. He looked up.

Every single spider was hovering above all of them, like demented Halloween decorations. DJ could see his own magic, pulsing in blue and silver, like a protective shield that kept them safe for the moment.

"Get them out." He whispered to Nico.

It took a while, but DJ persevered, concentrating on making sure none of the spiders could try and make their way down from the ceiling. The train shook and the carriage rattled like they were going over rough tracks. DJ gulped as Nico helped the last live student out of the carriage.

He couldn't count the number of bodies on both hands.

"We need to move ahead." DJ told Nico when the demigod came back for him. Nico nodded and they slowly exited the coach, heading for number 5. The moment Nico closed the door, DJ searched the side for the list of runes that had been inscribed.

He found a regular locking rune. Arms shaking from the stress of the spell, he finally dropped the spiders. They landed on the ground with loud and, hopefully, painful thuds.

He jabbed his wand on the rune and the carriage sealed in all the Acromantulae.

"That'll keep them in, right?" Nico asked, leaning against the wall, panting. He'd made at least five trips to St. Mungo's, carrying eighteen students over there.

"Can you go again?" DJ asked, not surprised when Nico shook his head, panting heavily.

"No… I'd collapse mid-way. We may end up… in the Underworld, which will be even worse… than this, trust me."

"Damn." DJ said, closing his eyes. His back ached, his hands were shot. He couldn't hold his wand steadily. He was ready to drop and sleep.

Nico nearly jumped when the mirror shook angrily. DJ watched as he picked up the call.

"Luna?"

" _Nico, can you get to the engine! You need to go now!"_

DJ had never heard Luna so scared in her life. He peered in and saw her flushed face, eyes large and round from fear and panic.

"What's wrong? What's happening?"

" _Hermione thinks the conductor may be dead! We need to stop the train, we've been speeding up for a while now –"_

Even as she said it, the train shook. DJ braced against the wall, while Nico was actually thrown to the floor. The mirror fell, hitting the ground hard.

"Shit, Nico!"

"I can't…" Nico gasped, clenching his fists. "I…"

His body lurched suddenly like he was about to be sick. DJ helped him sit up, leaning his head forwards so Nico wouldn't choke.

"It's okay. It's alright. Go right ahead, Nico." DJ whispered, knowing that he sounded scared. Nico clamped his eyes shut, breathing through his mouth and holding onto his hand.

Within a few seconds he settled into deeper breaths and when DJ was sure he wouldn't vomit, he lowered the eleven year old to the floor.

"Luna?" DJ called, picking up the mirror. "Are you there?"

Luna's face appeared. _"Here! You need to get to the engine now! Colin says we passed the midway point!"_

DJ frowned. "What about the midway –"

" _The bridge, DJ! We're coming up to the bridge! We shouldn't be going this fast!"_

Almost immediately, the reality of the situation hit him like a thunderbolt. The tall bridge – that ran above a small road far below in a soft valley of grass and trees – far too narrow, far too curved for them to travel across it without dipping to at least eighty km per hour.

DJ remembered an incident from his second year, when the train had stopped right over the bridge for the dementors to board the train and search for Sirius.

This was far, far worse.

"No." DJ pressed a hand to his head. "We can't! We won't make it there, in time! Isn't there anyone else near the front? We saw a lot of empty carriages here, everyone else has to be up front!"

" _Bolt said Ginny and Rachel were there, but carriage 2 is rune-locked!"_

"Who's Bo –"

Something short-circuited in DJ's brain.

"WHY THE HELL IS RACHEL ON THE TRAIN?!"

* * *

Rachel opened her eyes. Ginny was trying to make hand gestures to communicate to people in the second car. The door was solidly locked, and short of another fire blast like before, nobody might be able to open it save for some rune expert that she'd talked about. All Rachel knew was that she could feel the venom in Bolt's body, burn through her leg. That had Ginny's accidental magic had also practically taken off a layer of her skin on her left arm.

If this was what being a witch meant, Rachel was pretty fine being a squib.

"Rachel!" Bolt yelled, startling her.

Of course, that shock had nothing on the actual news she conveyed.

"Shit!" Rachel cried. "Ginny!"

"They're all stuck in there, both carriages are locked!" Ginny kicked the door, angrily. "Someone's gone and added runes to the entire train, not to mention a huge, bloody burning ward! We can't get out!"

"You have to get to the engine!"

Ginny frowned. "Why?"

Rachel explained the problem. Ginny blanched.

"Shit."

"Yeah, I don't think I can stand, you need to go and find the brake –"

"How am I supposed to even get there!?"

"… I was thinking you could climb on top of the train."

Rachel winced at the flabbergasted expression on Ginny's face. She looked a little adorable too, but that wasn't something she'd comment on, lest she wanted Ginny to actually hex her.

The train rattled and Rachel grabbed the wall behind her, eyes tightly closed. Bolt needed to get to a hospital. Now.

"Hey." Ginny kneeled in front of her. "You look pale."

"It's not me… my…Bolt's been bitten." Rachel said through her teeth. She could feel the burn, from far away. Oh gods, what if she died?

"You need to breathe –"

"I am breathing!"

Ginny's hand touched Rachel's face. Her fingers were hot it made her aware that she was sweating.

"Look at me." Ginny's voice was so soft, that Rachel felt a shudder, the good kind, run through her veins.

Rachel swallowed, opening her eyes to look straight into her soft, melting chocolate brown irises. There was something genuinely, amazing about the flames in Ginny's eyes. Rachel could almost see her aura. Orange-red and gold, lighting up the witch's body like a halo. She looked divine and safe and strong.

The burn drifted away and Rachel sat up slowly.

"You have to keep breathing slowly." Ginny was saying, but Rachel was still stuck, staring at her. Her voice was gentle and powerful. Rachel trusted her.

"Stay here, don't move. I'll figure it out."

She nodded. Then she said, "I just gave you an idea."

Ginny wrinkled her nose, "Yeah. I'm trying to think of one that doesn't involve me attempting death defying acrobatics."

Rachel reached back to feel Bolt's exhausted and pained presence. She shook her head, "No time. There's a bridge coming up, we need to slow down."

Ginny's confident, joking demeanour vanished abruptly, "The bridge! I forgot!"

She stood up to stare at whole in the train wall, where she'd blown the door away. "Right. Easy peasy."

Rachel reached up to take her hand for a brief squeeze. "Worse comes to worse, you can just disconnect the attachment between the engine and the first car."

Ginny almost laughed. "Yeah! I … I'll do that."

Rachel, and the dozen kids that had managed to squeeze themselves forwards to watch them through the locked door, followed Ginny's movements with their eyes. Ginny pocketed her wand, rubbed her hands together, trying not to show her nervousness. She shot another smile at Rachel, and stepped out, grabbing onto the ladder to climb to the top.

The moment she was out of sight, Rachel let out a pained groan. It felt like the venom's sting hit back with full force now that she had nothing else to concentrate on.

" _You guys… are cute_." Bolt panted. Rachel pressed a hand to her thigh.

"Thanks. Gods, how're you holding up?"

" _Hermione cleaned out as much as she could… she tied a stole on my thigh. It's not going to stop the venom, but it can hold out for a while. I have another hour, I think_."

"Good."

" _But there are kids already dead, Rachel."_ Bolt's voice dropped to a whisper. Rachel swallowed.

She looked up and found a dozen pair of eyes staring at her from within the locked car. They looked pretty much stunned, talking to each other and pointing at her. Rachel thought she recognized some of them from the party, but she couldn't be sure. She could see Draco Malfoy, though. Rachel was sure she'd spoken to him for a bit.

The way they stared at her…

Rachel reached up to her throat to feel for the pendant that she'd worn during the party…

Right. No disguise.

* * *

 _Monday, Dec 3; 3:40 p.m.  
Hogwarts Express, Scotland_

Sirius had been called to the Ministry because they were running out of trained people to help. The moment the alarm sounded in London to shut down all exits, his immediate thought had been to get Sally and Nico back to the States.

Except Nico had disappeared to Merlin knows where, and Sally refused to leave without him. The restrictions came down and now she was stuck in London. Great.

Sirius didn't want to be angry at her, so he directed all his wrath on the situation. Not even an hour ago, the Knight Bus had exploded. Shortly after that, Gringotts raised an intruder alarm. Then, some drunks in Knockturn Alley swore up and down that they saw a giant scorpion, while the Ministry lost all contact with the Aurors who'd been stationed on the Hogwarts Express.

"What. The. Hell?" Sirius asked, slowly, eyes burning into the scores of Ministry workers who were partially star-struck, partially frightened. Good.

"Two bodies have been found in the blast. We're still not sure about the bank. The Goblins have begun their own search. We can't expect a report until the evening, but that's not the most pressing issue." Kingsley briefed everyone who stood in the Atrium of the Ministry.

"If you're going to say that a scorpion is going to take priority –" Sirius muttered, viciously, but then shut up when Kingsley shot him a frown.

"We've lost sight of the train. All the tracking charms have been turned off for some reason. Our last details from the train say that it was running at 170 km per hour. That is not the regulated speed, so we'll be apparating to Rothbury now. Your stations are as prescribed, we have to intercept. Stop the train and conduct standard checks. Priority is to make sure the train slows down before the bridge in Blyth."

He nodded and the DMLE scattered, heading for the apparating ports. Sirius went to follow them but Kingsley stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

"Sirius –

"Sorry for undermining your authority, or whatever –"

"I need you to go to Gringotts."

Sirius shrugged his hand off. "Nope. Not doing. I'm going to check on the kids. DJ – "

"You have clearance to demand more information from the goblins than most of us." Kingsley interrupted him using some strange trick to sound very rational. "These people know their jobs, they can handle it. They'll make sure the kids are alright."

"Please tell me you can feel something's wrong?!" Sirius hissed, leaning in. As usual, the vast Atrium gave him a cold feeling. He hated this building. "First the bus, then the bank, now this? Whoever's behind this, they're splitting us up. The Aurors are still in Diagon Alley, and you just got the DMLE to go to Rothbury, wherever _that_ is!"

"It's in England. I am aware. But we affirmed this in the meeting. If everyone follows their roles, we can figure this out fast with minimum casualties –"

"The goblins hate me."

"You're a priority customer. You can bulldoze your way through with that privilege, and I know you've always wanted to do that." King said, raising an eyebrow.

Sirius grimaced. Damn it, he had always wanted to do that! By the way, what did _bulldoze_ mean?

"You have your mirror?" Sirius grumbled. "Call me if anything goes wrong. If DJ stubs his toe, I want to be there, got it?"

Kingsley nodded, looking like he took that request very seriously. He closed the apparating ports, finally locking the city in from any and all magical transportations.

Sirius flooed to the Leaky. Tom let him in without a fuss.

He hadn't thought the pub had ever been empty in living memory. Sirius gave a low whistle at the abandoned tables, shooting a quick look of sympathy towards Tom before heading to the bank.

The streets were filled with Aurors. They were assuring the civilians, convincing them to head home for the day. Many people had to be rerouted to other centres since they hadn't been able to leave the city. Sirius found Tonks standing off the side, almost in an alleyway, talking to someone hidden from view.

Mundungus Fletcher cringed when he spotted Sirius.

"What d'you know about the bank?" Sirius asked with no other greeting. Tonks heaved a sigh and Dung stammered, "Not… nothing! I swear, I wus in Knockturn Alley! Briggins ' I found this scorpion the size of a shop!"

Sirius clenched his fists to stop from grabbing his wand and hexing the drunkard.

"Forget about your little delusion and get back to the bank. Why did the goblins shut it down?"

"I dunno! I swear on my young un's head –"

"You don't have any kids!"

Dung blinked, his eyes quite dilated. "I might someday."

Sirius reached for his neck, but Tonks pushed him back.

"Not here! Morgana, get a grip!" She hissed, her hair turning Weasley red. "Look, Bill and Fleur are inside, as soon as the doors open, they'll be the first ones out, I'm sure."

"Not unless their jobs stop them from talking about the bank in public." Sirius snapped. "You know? NDAs? Sound familiar?"

"Well, then. That's what you're here for." Tonks replied, scathing. "Go on, bark at them. Let's see what you find out."

It wasn't fair to snap at her, but she was arguing just as much as he was. May be it was because they both missed Moony. That and the situation was actually barely in control.

Turns out, it wasn't in their control at all.

The goblins were stoic enough that Sirius wanted to rip his hair out. Any break-ins in the bank would be reported in the Ministry, by default, considering that a large number of Gringotts clientele were humans. But beyond that, the goblins governed all laws and legislations of the bank. Sirius, or anyone, wouldn't get any more info other than the preliminary statement they'd first received, which said that an alarm had been set off signalling the presence of an intruder in the vast underground of the vaults.

"Your vault is under maximum protection, Mr. Black." The goblin spoke, stern and confident. "You have no need to worry about your gold and treasures, my word is bound."

 _I don't care about the stupid vaults_ , Sirius wanted to shake the goblin. _I care about Harry, who isn't waking up from his death-coma, who hasn't even healed yet, who still looks like he was recently_ _ **murdered**_ _. I care about DJ who's on the train, same train that's been sending up red flags for a bit now. I care about Remus who's been on an undercover mission for months and hasn't sent a letter for more than three weeks. I care about Sally who's already worried about her kids, who's bloody_ _ **pregnant**_ _with mine! I care about Nico and Percy, Tonks, Rachel, and…_

A bunch of other names crossed his head. Sirius forced himself to take a breath.

"I understand, Mr. Gornuk." Sirius said, plastering a smile that was as genuine as the goblin's goodwill. They were standing on the top of the marble staircase, right by the locked and guarded double doors of the bank. "I just hope you understand my uneasiness, since your bank is famed for all its protective measures. The success of an establishment is solely based on the patience, ingenuity, and tenacity of its employees. Gringotts has, no doubt, proven that for the past several centuries, but I would prefer to retain some suspicion… especially since I have no details of the incident that has taken place here."

Urgh, he sounded like his father.

"The primary report is nothing more than a statement which mentions that an alarm has been activated." Gornuk replied. One of his eyes twitched. "Gringotts, as you have rightfully said, prides on the success of its security. We value your status as customers, and it is my belief, as well as my colleagues, that all your worries can easily be resolved with some transparency."

He leaned in. Sirius didn't flinch.

"Our security measures are paramount, Mr. Black. I'm sure you've heard of them. Be assured, there is nothing to fear."

Something snapped, and Sirius lost some of the honey from the conversation.

"I have heard about your security systems." He began, trying to sound as carefree as possible. "I have also, forgive me, heard about an unsettling rumour… an incident that took place four years ago."

Gornuk's black, beady eyes narrowed, his entire forehead crumpling up like handmade paper. Sirius felt a temporary slice of vindication.

"And as you have heard, Mr. Black…" Gornuk said, short of actually cursing him, "The vault in question, was empty, and therefore at minimal protection. Any and all assumptions that can be allowed after that, will be this: our consideration of what remains safe, is heightened security. Your vault is safe, sir. And that is all you need to know. I must take my leave."

Sirius nodded, feeling his jaw ache from how heard he clenched his teeth. Without another word, he turned around and left. They'd have to wait for Bill and Fleur, for whatever information they would be allowed to pass on. Goblin magic was notoriously activity-cursed. Any implication of a broken vow would result in disastrous consequences. There were very few branches of magic that could work around that.

There was nothing else for him, so he went back to Grimmauld Place where the rest of the non-active duty Order waited for news.

They knew more than him though.

"Say that again." Sirius demanded, even as Molly and Arthur worked on the floo again, with no results.

"There was an attack on the train, Sirius." Alice Longbottom said. She was clenching the hem of his robes tight in her pale, prominently knuckled hands.

"It's where Nico went. He felt the deaths." Sally's whisper was so low, Sirius almost didn't hear the words. But he did hear them.

And he felt faint.

Arthur steadied him with a firm hand. A chair was pushed in his direction. Sirius sat on it, grabbing the bottom of the seat like he wanted to break the wood.

"How many?"

Frank looked up from the table, barely breathing. "Seventeen dead, fourteen more bitten."

Molly finally stood up from the hearth. She looked like she'd aged twenty years. "They're transporting all critical victims to the closest hospital, that's in Rothbury. The rest of the kids are being sent to St. Mungo's. They're going to lift the warding around the city for them."

Sirius nearly leapt off the chair. His heart was beating so loudly, he was sure Remus could hear it from wherever he was. "Then why are we waiting here!?"

"The hospital is closed to home networks. Only emergency stations. It's supposed to last twenty minutes, they want to screen every student before we can go storm the place to pick them up." Arthur replied, guiding Molly to a chair.

"And how do we which ones are critical and are in Rothbury?" Sirius demanded. Sally closed a warm, sweaty palm over his wrist.

"We'll find out only when we get to St. Mungo's."

* * *

It took them nearly forty minutes. Forty minutes, twenty seconds to be precise. Sally had stared at her watch the entire time, only taking her eyes off when Frank had offered her tea.

Nico had gone to the train, had saved eighteen kids. The hospital had no clue where the strange boy with shadow powers was bringing the injured children from. They had no idea, until one of the staff recognized her daughter and realised that the train had been infested with Acromantula. That had been when the Aurors had already reached the town when, to their absolute surprise, they saw train slowing to a stop, sans engine.

Apparently, Ginny Weasley had climbed on top of the train like it was nothing, and had detached the first coach from the coal truck. The engine and truck had gone on to travel at an insane speed, finally going over the bridge and ripping right off the tracks, falling to a fiery demise.

Molly looked rather proud when she heard of the news. Sally had no doubt that she was going to ground Ginny for her acrobats and feed her for the next ten years.

Information was staggered, till they made a semblance of a report. Someone had filled the train with Acromantula eggs, that had been primed with spells such as size-changing charms. Runes had been thrown all over the train to stop the students and Aurors from sending SOS signals. Not to mention, a ward, right around the train, grounded to the engine, had been planted to stop them from leaving or anyone from entering. The ward had been deactivated the moment Ginny had disconnected the truck from the train.

Sally barely understood the mechanics of what had happened, but she was sure of a few things. Someone had attack the bus and the train. People were dead. It was mass chaos.

Also, Rachel had been on scene.

The six parents waited in the safe house, silently contemplating on a combination of purgatory and hell on earth, until a lone fiery feather flashed into existence.

The phoenix feather fluttered down to the table and all six were up and running for the hearth.

It was a madness of green messy flames until they emerged in the flooing station of St. Mungo's. The room, though almost as large as Hogwarts' antechamber, was packed with several worried and angry families, demanding to see their children at once.

"There's no way we can get through this crowd!" Sally gasped as people began to yell at the hospital staff. The room was stuffy and loud. She grabbed Sirius's hand to not lose him in the crowd.

She stood on her toes got a glimpse of the information desk in the front of the room that held two overworked staff members who were trying to answer all the distraught parents' demands.

One of them put his wand to his throat and his voice boomed out, "EVERYONE QUIET!"

The roar in the room fell to an annoyed decibel. The staff member continued, "Due to the attack on the train, St. Mungo's has had to coordinate with the Torrent Clinic based in Rothbury. Twenty children have been admitted there, and I will call out their names in order. If you hear your child or ward's name, please step towards the door on my left, which holds the apparating stations one through five. For those with multiple children, we have done our best to group all siblings into one base. We will work on this case by case."

He took up a sheet of yellow paper and said, "Terry Boot."

A woman broke out of the crowd and rushed towards the door. Sally caught her red, teary face and murmured a prayer in silence.

The staff kept calling names and people kept leaving the room. Sometimes, no one answered for a name called, and Sally squeezed Sirius' hand when she realised that those kids might have been muggle-born with no one to pick them up at the moment.

"Lanie Ebios… Parvati Patil… Deaton Tenma… Jack Vance."

When the roll call stopped, Sally let out a breath. She hadn't heard a name she recognized.

The staff member now announced, "All other students have been brought to St. Mungo's. Please proceed to the lobby through the door on my right. You will receive more information from the reception."

Sally ran into the lobby along with hundreds of others, desperate to find their kids. Relief tinged with guilt filled her lungs, making it partially easier to breathe. None of the Weasley kids' names had been called; Neville, DJ, and Nico too remained in St. Mungo's.

The receptionist was bombarded with several voices and Sally knew they'd have to wait for a bit. But, Molly, somehow, steamrolled over everyone and made her way to the front.

Her bracelet itched. Sally reached up to scratch it through her sweater. Her movements were absentminded. She thought of Harry in the special corridor on the fifth floor, lying motionless, without a heartbeat. It was barely a reprieve to know that he wouldn't remember any of the horrifying things he would have experienced as he'd died. At least, the truth wouldn't plague him.

"Third floor, room 329." Molly huffed out, after managing her way out of the mob. Arthur took her hand, grateful, and the group made their way to the stairs, the elevator far too busy for them.

Room 329 held up to twenty kids and the moment Sally spotted Nico, she felt near total respite. She held out her arms, and the boy, no matter how betrayed he'd looked when he had questioned her about the bracelet and immortality, ran into her embrace.

"Thank the gods!" Sally gasped, clutching onto his shoulders. She had to bend a bit to really hug him, but didn't mind it, because he was squeezing back just as hard.

She pulled back to look at him. "Are you okay? Tell me, did you get hurt anywhere?"

Nico let her fuss over him, brushing back his hair, touching his face to check for any injuries. His eyes kept drooping and he mumbled, "I'm fine. It's okay."

He was tired. Of course he was, he'd saved so many lives! He deserved at least ten hours of uninterrupted sleep. Sally was going to tuck him in so tightly, no monster would be able to get to him.

Further in the room, Sirius had managed to squeeze the life out of DJ, practically picking him up. DJ had to keep reassuring him, "I'm fine, Sirius. They couldn't hurt me. See? I was lucky."

"Lucky?" Fred called, after he'd survived his mother's hug. "He was like an unstoppable force! Him and Nico! They went and cleared out the whole of carriage six on their own!"

Sally clutched Nico's arms tighter. She looked up to see the others. Neville was talking to his parents, holding their hands and letting them comfort him. Ginny, Ron, Fred, and George began to explain everything that had happened to their parents, while Hermione sat on one of the beds, with Rachel, watching the adults rather nervously.

Sally did a double-take.

"Rachel?" She called. "What're you doing here?"

Sirius swivelled around, eyes bugging out almost comically. They watched Rachel wince a little. She was holding a small golden haired puppy that slept in her arms. She wore sports gear as though she were ready to play a game on the field, not tackle giant spiders on a train.

Rachel shot a panicked looked to Hermione who patted her arm and said, "It's a long story."

"Yeah." DJ almost snorted. He gave a yawn almost immediately, leaning into Sirius. "It involves an omniscient Harry and a Greek mummy."

Sally frowned, staring at Rachel. Her bracelet itched again.

"It's not as weird as it sounds." Rachel tried to placate them. Sally was about to respond, when someone else quipped, "I'm sure it's not."

Sally turned around, heart thudding. Percy was standing at the entrance, arms folded, leaning against the door jamb, looking rather relaxed… and elated. He gave them all a smirk, and something about it had Sally swallowing down her question, making her feel uncomfortable and angry.

* * *

 **Q: So a bit of this section's plot is borrowed from a lot of train action sequences… art imitates art (and reality). Speaking of which, what movie did this chapter remind you of?**

 **Cabba.**


	52. The Future is Clear

**A: The train scene is based off of movies such as Speed, Spider Man 2, Unstoppable. Probably some others, but as you know, I tried to focus less on the train. Initially, I had this entire sequence where Ginny and Rachel actually climb into the engine after crawling on top of the train, find another spider there… it was taking too long. I am not letting the story go past 60 chapters.**

 **(Then again, I didn't think it would move beyond 40, so who knows. I know. It's going to finish soon.)**

 **evenstarlily: Yeah… about the last cliffhanger, it isn't as bad as the one in this chapter, so…**

 **Catie Cat: You'll like this chapter. You'll also hate me. Probably.**

 **Lady among the trees: This chapter is a little more intense than the last one :)**

 **percyjacksonfan135: Hey, welcome back. Glad to see you're catching up. Right!**

 **AN: This chapter is extra long for all you patient readers. You are awesome!**

 **Warning: Violence, gory depiction of death**

 **Listening to:** _ **Hell Yeah! (Original Mix)**_ **by Tiesto and Showtek**

 **(So… there's an action sequence in this chapter and anytime I imagine this scene, this song plays in my head… go for it!)**

* * *

 _Monday, Dec 3; 5:00 p.m.  
London, England_

A lot was happening. DJ watched as Sally took Percy to the side of the room to have a serious talk about 'timing', and 'reading the room'. Percy wasn't having any of it, looking annoyed at her telling him off.

Sirius was talking to Rachel, who was trying to explain how a mummy had sent her to the train. She was wrong, it was much weirder than it sounded. None of it made sense to DJ, especially the fact that Harry had somehow talked to her in her head?

If Harry had to talk to anyone, why wouldn't it be DJ?

Making up his mind, DJ inched out of the room slowly, making sure that everyone was occupied enough to not miss him for a bit. The moment he was out of sight, DJ took off down the corridor, heading for the stairs when he found the elevator packed with hundreds of people.

The stairs were also busy, but nobody really bothered him, save for a few off looks shot his way. DJ ignored them all, taking the steps two at a time, feeling tired even with this small bit of exercise.

On the fifth floor, the noise was dramatically lowered as though he'd entered a library. Not many people wandered here, which was good. DJ walked around the hallway, searching for the door to the special corridor. He made a loop around the circular corridor, examining if any part of the wall felt like a glamour. He couldn't find anything except for the permanent ward rooms.

DJ tried to calm his racing heart by taking deep breaths. He hated this. He had to see him. May be Harry would appear now, try to say something to him like he did with Rachel.

"Mr. Potter." Someone called from the side and DJ sighed.

He found Healer Sierra Calles walking towards him. She clearly had had a demanding day, probably tending to all the mentally traumatised kids. DJ wondered if he'd set off some trigger that had alerted her that he was up here. She looked like she'd run up here.

"I just want to see him." DJ said, but Calles was already shaking her head.

"I'm sorry. Rules state no visitors –"

"Sirius is the one who put those rules! He'll make an exception for me, just let me in! Please!"

"Potter, unless your guardian gives me his permission in writing, you and everybody else will not be allowed to see him."

"But it's not fair!" DJ yelled, feeling very much like a child whining. He tried to clear his throat, standing taller. "Just a glimpse, I just want to check on him, that's it, I swear!"

Calles shook her head, though she looked sympathetic. "I'm sorry. Mr. Black has to agree –"

"He'd never let me! He thinks someone will find a way in if any of us can get in." DJ pleaded. "But I have to know that Harry's still here, please. I'll just step in for a second, make sure he's real, and then leave. That's it! That's all, no one has to know!"

The healer looked like she wanted to help him. But DJ saw the unyielding strength in her eyes and he felt exhaustion hit him completely. He'd done so well, ever since finding out that Nico had been on the train.

DJ had gone ahead to help him with that spider, and the two went to decimate the infestation in carriage six. Then after Ginny stopped the train, DJ had been the one to flag down the aurors, gave them as much information he could, leading them to all the bodies, and to the ones who needed immediate help. He let Nico lie down for a bit, looking over him until the aurors brought them to St. Mungo's where they were shunted off for a check-up and then sent to room 329. DJ had made it all the way till then.

His knees gave way now, exhaustion hitting him hard. Cold shivers and a sudden breathlessness converged upon him. He laid his head on the floor, thinking, _I'll just lie here, then._

 _Just catch my breath…_

When he came to, he was in a separate room, white and pristine, alone.

DJ blinked slowly, pushing off his arms to sit on the bed. Had he passed out? He didn't feel rested at all, still experiencing a coldness all over his body. Someone had taken his jacket vest, probably thinking the heat had gotten to him. The heat of winter… who knows, DJ thought turning to the side.

Percy was sitting next to him.

DJ nearly jumped off the bed, clamping a hand on his mouth to stop from screaming.

"The hell, Percy?!" He yelled.

Percy shrugged. "I volunteered to look out for you. I guess you were tired, huh?"

He didn't like the casual tone in those words. It was as though Percy didn't realise how damaging the entire day had been.

"Where were you?" DJ panted, swinging his legs over the side. Percy was reclining on a chair right by the bed.

"On my way to camp. I thought I'd drop by to look up Nico and my mom, but they weren't there. Then I remembered that you guys were on the train home, so I thought I'd wait in the safe house. Turns out, there was no one when I got there. Asked the portraits, realised everyone was here."

Percy gave a half smile, standing up to walk away. DJ frowned, following his movements. There was something about him that was vaguely irritating.

His vest was on the back of a chair, across the room. DJ stood up to take it, just as Percy said, "So no one's allowed to go to Harry's room?"

DJ huffed, snatching the vest. "No. Sirius is paranoid. He thinks that someone will get to him or something."

"That makes sense, you know."

"Yeah…"

Percy walked towards one of the windows, drawing open the blinds. "He's gotten some aurors to guard the entrance, just so you know. Even if you found the right door, they wouldn't let you in."

DJ glared at the floor, "How'd you know about that?"

"I asked him." Percy deadpanned. "I want to see Harry too."

Right. Of course, he would. DJ wasn't sure why he felt so against that.

"Wait." DJ stopped, looking up at him. "How'd you floo to London? They'd set up wards around the city."

"They removed those measures to bring you guys in from Rothbury. I got in at the right time."

"How'd you know we came from Rothbury?"

Percy frowned, judging DJ silently. There was something brewing behind his sea green eyes, something like a storm.

"I asked Sirius. What's with all the questions? My mom already interrogated me, DJ. If you hadn't run away and given everyone a heart attack, you two could have coordinated."

The acidic tone in his words stunned DJ. He'd never heard Percy talk so viciously about anything or anyone.

"Uh." DJ said, trying to frame a sentence but the door cracked open and his eyes fell upon the newcomer, someone tiny and very young.

Percy was closer to the door, his back turned against it. He turned around when he heard the sound and saw, as DJ did, a small child, holding the door handle and peeking into the room.

He, or she, DJ couldn't tell, had to have been younger than Nico. May be even eight, or seven. The kid looked Asian, with straight, floppy hair that fell over his brown eyes.

"Yes?" Percy asked, frowning at the kid.

The child swallowed, looking at DJ and then Percy. They came up to Percy's waist.

"Percy." The kid said, enunciating the name slowly.

"Yes." Percy said, almost demanding.

The kid looked up at Percy, confusion sparking in their eyes.

"No."

That one word made Percy stiffen. DJ frowned, observing the painful silence that reigned the room. Feeling itchy, he asked, "Are you searching for Percy Weasley?"

He tried to smile at the child, but they had none of it. "No."

There couldn't be too many people out there were the name 'Percy', right? It was unisex, sure, but DJ hadn't heard of any variations…

"I'm Percy." Percy said, practically glaring at the small kid, who shrunk away, ready to bolt.

DJ walked forwards, shooting a sharp look at him before crouching down to reach the kid's eye-level.

"Hi, I'm DJ. Who're you?"

He held out his hand, hoping a bit of friendliness would help. Thankfully, the kid took his hand, give it a quick shake, "Evey."

DJ blinked. "Eve…ee? Evee?

"Evey."

Okay, a girl. "Hi, Evey. Are you searching for a different Percy?"

Evey looked a little troubled, she stared down at her hands. DJ saw that she was holding something small. It looked like a crumpled piece of paper.

"Daniel." She said. DJ stared.

"Yeah… that's me… but you can call me DJ; everyone does."

Evey seemed like she was debating something actively in her head. DJ felt his knees ache at the angle they were bent, and knew that he needed to get a good night's sleep and a heavy breakfast, if he had to stay awake the next day.

Finally, the little girl extended her hand, offering him a hastily torn piece of paper.

"Oh! Thank you, Evey." DJ said, turning it over in his hands. One side of it was plain, but the other side had some writing in a language he'd never seen.

Evey looked up at Percy again, saw something she didn't like, and fled from the room. Percy looked like he was about to follow her, so DJ stood up and grabbed his elbow.

"Seriously, what's up with you? I thought you were good with kids or whatever."

Percy stepped away from him, fuming for no reason. "I didn't like the way she was staring at me."

"The way she was… _you_ were looking at her like she was a monster! Was she?"

DJ waited, but Percy could offer no reply. Shoving the piece of paper in his pocket, DJ left the room, leaving him behind. Whatever was wrong with Percy, DJ didn't have the energy to figure out at the moment. He had to go find Sirius, convince him somehow.

He found himself on the fourth floor when he ran into Colin.

"Thank god!" Colin said, throwing his arms around DJ, who hugged back just as fiercely. "I couldn't find you, then some said they saw you faint!"

"I just sat down for a bit," DJ said, feeling his face heat up. "I'm fine. What about you? You found Dennis?"

"Yeah!" Colin sighed, face falling immediately. "He's here, one of the healers gave him a potion. He was in shock…"

Colin's voice lowered, "One of his classmates got bitten. She's still in the other clinic. I don't know who to call to find out if she made it."

DJ winced. "I'm sorry… may be, I can help. Sirius knows the head of St. Mungo's, we can ask her."

"That'll be great, thanks."

Colin didn't sound so happy. DJ watched him carefully, about ask what was wrong –

"I don't want to come back." Colin whispered.

"Sorry?"

"I… Dennis and I, we're not going back to Hogwarts."

DJ gaped. "What? No! I mean, yeah, this is bad, but –"

"No buts, DJ. Den and I are muggleborns!" Colin argued. "I was attacked once because of that in first year, remember? If anything happened to Den, I'd never forgive myself. It's too dangerous."

DJ felt breathless again. He couldn't think of going back without Colin. "Is someone stopping you from going? Did someone threaten you?"

Colin stared. "Yeah, DJ. Someone threatened me. Someone threatened all of us! I talked to Dae Iseul on the train after you'd left. She said that she was searching for Astoria. Do you know where Astoria was? She was in carriage one, because all the Slytherins got the message that they had to stay there for the entire trip. The other houses started to migrate there later, when they heard that the first carriage had some _extra security measures_! And then, somehow, the first two carriages get rune-locked and the rest of the train is under attack!"

The anger was there, as well as the desperate hope that DJ would understand exactly how Colin felt. Colin took a deep breath and continued, "As long as You-Know-Who's out there, I'm not going back. Den and I are sticking together. I talked to Luna, she said she can help with warding around our house, so we can get by. I don't care how we're going to manage, but if we stay alive by the end of it, it'll be worth it."

Luna was okay with this?

DJ watched as Colin grimaced due to the lack of response. "You can be angry all you want, DJ. You wouldn't understand how I feel. Yeah, we're all in danger, but some of us are a little more targeted than the rest."

He blinked. DJ felt the annoyance brew in the pit of his stomach. "You think I don't know how you feel? You think I'm not as targeted as you? Colin, if Voldemort stood in front of us, right now, guess which of us he'd taunt and kill first."

Colin glared, "This isn't a contest –"

"You phrased it like that! Some of us are targeted more than the rest. Yeah, me! With the name 'Potter', I have a lovely target painted on my back!"

"Well then, you're right there with the rest of us. Thanks for joining the group, DJ!"

"Shut it, Colin. You don't know how _I_ feel –"

"You're so sure about that –"

"HARRY'S DEAD!" DJ screamed, clenching his fists and leaning right into Colin's space. "He's dead, and do you know who killed him?! I'll give you three guesses."

Colin exhaled, going pale with rage. "I'm sorry. Harry didn't deserve that. But there's one very important distinction that separates Harry from the rest of us. He. Is. Going. To. Wake. Up."

Colin rarely side-lined priorities. He never claimed some people as insignificant. DJ had never heard him speak like that.

"Harry's going to be awake soon. He's going to be alive." Colin repeated. "You-Know-Who can't kill him. I'm a little worried about the people who _can_ die."

DJ stepped closer, feeling his entire body shake, "It's not just Harry. I don't know if you're aware, but everyone got a glimpse of Rachel. So now, we're going to have a lovely new headline in the Daily Prophet tomorrow, about her."

"She doesn't go to Hogwarts." Colin muttered. "She doesn't have to stay in the Wizarding World, wondering when exactly the _uprising_ is going to officially begin."

"Fine!" DJ snapped. "Go! Go home. Go to a muggle school, see if I care!"

"What's wrong with a muggle school?" Colin demanded.

DJ knew that he'd already shoved his foot in his mouth, but he was too far ahead to turn back and be repentant. "It won't be the same as Hogwarts."

"You're right. It's gonna be safer." Colin started walking backwards. "It's not gonna have you in it, so I won't have to put up with your racist arse, anyway."

DJ's jaw dropped. He'd never been called… he would never…

Colin flipped him off and shut the door to his assigned room. DJ gripped the ends of his jacket, feeling like he could rip the material. Whatever. He didn't care. So, what if he didn't see Colin in the next school year? He had other friends.

Still fuming, he went back to the third floor, catching Rachel by the banister, right beside the elevator. She had a thick bandage around her left forearm. DJ knew that it was because Ginny had accidentally burned her, but with the right spell, it would heal overnight. Rachel had been more worried about Bolt, who, though having been shifted to St. Mungo's, still had venom in her system. The healer had given her a potion before fixing her up. Bolt had dropped like a light and would most definitely be out until the next day.

"Hey." Rachel frowned at him. "You okay? I heard you collapsed."

"I just sat down on the floor." DJ muttered, trying not to raise his voice.

She narrowed her eyes, like she could tell there was something else bothering him. To change the topic, DJ asked, "What now? What's the plan? Where's everyone else?"

"Um… one of Ginny's brothers came by, said that he got a port-key arranged, but not everyone could use it. So, only the Weasleys left. Hermione is going with Neville and his folks. They're part of some group apparation thingy. And we're waiting for Sally and Nico. They went to rent a car."

DJ stared. "We're going by car?"

Rachel nodded. "I feel too dizzy just thinking about the floo. And based on what Hermione said, portkeys and apparations are just as bad. Plus, Nico is dead tired and the healer said he shouldn't try any more miracles, which includes magical travelling, so… yeah, road trip."

That would be an experience.

"Great."

"We'll have to run, when she gets here. Someone called the press." Rachel said, leaning over the railing. DJ stood by her, peering down the open space to peek at the people milling about on the ground floor.

"I can't see any cameras."

"They're outside the building."

DJ nearly banged his head on the banister. Rachel jumped.

"Jeez! Enough with the theatrics! What's going on with you?"

"Nothing." He muttered. He could still hear Colin's argument. Was DJ actually in the wrong? He knew that he would be in twice the trouble as compared to the rest of the population, but he hadn't given a thought to muggle-borns. Would Hermione feel the same? Would she not want to go back to Hogwarts?

It was even more hurtful that Luna sided with Colin. How could she be okay with not seeing him again?

The elevator doors opened and Percy stepped out. He'd been alone in the lift.

Rachel rolled her eyes. "How did you find the right time when the lift was empty?"

Percy shrugged. "Got lucky. Everyone's left?"

"Mostly. We have to go to room 007 and wait by the alley way there. Nico's with Sally. The seats better not smell."

* * *

Sirius gripped the short rails that ran by the side of Harry's bed. That was as close to his ward as he could be. Calles had crafted a small shield that ran as a blue, pulsing dome over Harry's body. It eerily reminded Sirius of glass coffins.

The room was small, lit with natural light that streamed through the partially closed window. It was the same room he'd been admitted in, over the summer, after the Rome incident.

Harry was dressed in nothing but a sheet, to make any healing process as easy as possible. But the problem was he hadn't begun to heal at all. The last time he'd died, Sirius had received hourly updates on how each part of his body reformed, regenerating skin, muscle, and even bone, a nearly unmarked, freshly constructed live body, within a week.

But it had been ten days, and Harry was blue and grey, with limp hair over his head, ugly marking around his face, and a terrible open wound on his torso, that was covered by the sheet for now.

Sirius couldn't look away from the corpse. That's what he was now. Harry was dead till his heart began to beat, till his body repaired itself.

The bracelet was the only other thing that touched his skin. The bronze branding that ran around the bicep of his left upper arm, had twelve tiny charms hanging from it. Sirius felt confident that the longer he stared at it, the sooner it would heal him.

"Sirius." Sierra Calles called. He swallowed, tightening his grip on the bed rails.

"Why isn't he healing?" Sirius croaked.

She shook her head, standing beside him. "I haven't been able to garner much from the bracelet, or any of its charms. It's a completely different language. There is no connection to the Runic word. I can't give any estimate on this."

Sirius bent over, dropping his head and feeling his hair touch the shield. "Last time, you said that the bracelet began to work right when he'd died. Why is it different this time?"

"I don't know –"

"Then what do I do?!" Sirius yelled, "What – I can't just wait forever, why isn't the bracelet…"

He sucked in a breath, voice dropping to a whisper, "What if he doesn't wake up?"

Sierra's look of sympathy vanished and the strict demeanour of a hardened Healer took over, "The body has been in stasis for over ten days. It was definitely induced by the bracelet. I just can't explain the delay."

"What if… it takes months? What if he doesn't wake up for years?" Sirius asked, feeling his voice break again. "What if he stays like this for…"

Sierra stepped forwards to examine the bracelet, like she must have done countless times. Sirius had given only her the authorization to look over Harry's case. Calles and her small staff of nurses were the only ones with access into the room. And since the world was now aware that he couldn't die, Sirius could focus on just assigning as much security as he could.

Because the rest of his focus would be divided with Rachel, since the world discovered that she was Rosalie Potter. Nothing could be easy for them.

"Perhaps the bracelet is not just healing his physical state." Sierra suggested. "It may also focus on his psychological condition. Harry might not want to wake up to reality."

Sirius flinched. He hadn't thought that Harry would be afraid of coming back. But it seemed plausible. Dying wasn't pleasant. And if it happened in their home, it was doubly traumatic.

"Or the bracelet may wait for a trigger." She said, standing up, spine straight.

"A trigger? An outside influence?" He asked, hopefully. That sounded good. That sounded like a potential answer.

"It depends on why the bracelet exists at all." She said. "There must be a reason as to how he received this. This is not wizard magic, Sirius. This is not a toy. There is something powerful out there, and that power is allowing him to flit between the realms of the living and the dead. If that power decides that he should remain dormant for now, then there may be nothing we can do."

Sirius pressed his palms into his eyes, feeling the throb of a new migraine settle into his head. Someone out there basically controlling Harry's destiny?

"Or…" He said, trying not to sound too optimistic, "Or it just has to be activated?"

Sierra narrowed her eyes, "I'm no expert on this, Sirius. You need to find someone who has answers, who knows what kind of magic this is. Because it's not natural. It's not of our world. Death is not something to be carelessly handled. I can't do anything for him as long as he's like this. None of us can. "

Sirius nodded. As Sierra left, he stared at Harry's bruised face, the bloodless pallor, his long, limp hair. Sirius felt something break in him. The silence in the room left a loud ringing in his ears.

He looked at his godson and whispered, "You can be scared, Harry. It's okay. You're allowed to be scared. But I'll be here, when you need me, okay, pup?

Sirius found it hard to swallow down the lump in his throat. "I love you, Harry. You can take your time, we're all here for you. You don't have to do this alone. We'll always be here."

Maybe he thought his words would wake him up. Maybe, he could hear them. If Harry had appeared to Rachel in a dream knowing more than what anyone could expect, then maybe he was closer to the surface than they believed him to be. Maybe Harry was waiting for the opportune moment to come back, a moment none of them could perceive.

Whatever the case, Sirius swore to be there when Harry woke up.

* * *

One of the nurses led them out of the building through a back door. Rachel looked over around the small alley, registering the empty, but slightly dank space. The open road at the entrance would be tricky to navigate, if there were reporters outside the main entrance of St. Mungo's.

It was a cold and cloudy day. She shivered a little in her breathable sports outfit, rubbing her palms together. A small part of her still couldn't believe she was in London. But Bolt was just too exhausted to do any more magic, let along get them back to Manhattan. So she'd be going with DJ, Nico, Percy, Sirius, and Sally, to the safe house in London, where she could stay for a few hours before leaving by the floo. Hopefully, the city wide warding would be removed by then.

A car drove up to the entrance of the alleyway. It was dark blue, a six seater. Sirius ushered the three kids into the car, where Sally and Nico were already seated.

Sally placed a finger on her lips. Rachel leaned around Percy and saw that Nico had fallen asleep in the second row, right behind the passenger seat. DJ gave him a tired grin and sat beside him, right behind Sally.

Sirius took shotgun, while Rachel followed Percy into the last row. The demigod was oddly quiet and stiff, glaring at nothing in particular. Rachel ignored him as DJ closed the last open door and Sally manoeuvred smoothly away from the hospital. Rachel turned around and spotted a group of poorly disguised witches and wizards crowding around a large glass window.

"How long is the commute?" Percy asked, his voice strained. Rachel frowned at him as Sally called out, "Just under half an hour. The traffic is nothing like the New York rush, so let's be thankful for that."

Rachel buckled in her belt, watching as Percy struggled with his. He was acting so…

Forget it, she thought, turning to face the sights. DJ leaned by the door, probably trying to fall asleep as well. He and Nico must be exhausted. She'd heard a lot of the students whisper about how Harry Potter's cousin, and a strange shadow boy with a sword, came charging in to kill all the spiders. They must have saved dozens of lives. It almost made up for those who actually died.

Someone had actually filled the train with Acromantula eggs. Rachel heard talk about Voldemort announcing his return by attacking the train. It terrified her.

The pain in her arm was almost forgotten. She poked at the cotton bandage that was wrapped around her arm, remembering the sharp burn and sizzling pain of fire. Pushing aside that thought, Harry's train ticket manifested itself in her mind. She had a hundred questions, all ranging from her vision about the mummy and Harry, to the events on the train. She had no answers. She couldn't stop thinking.

Sally and Sirius were whispering. Rachel leaned in, placing on arm on the headrest in front of her. DJ barely stirred.

"… go back and check in on him." Sirius muttered.

"I can take in DJ." Sally responded.

"Just for a few days. He'll have his portkey on him. Hopefully, it'll work this time."

Rachel swallowed, lowering her head. She remembered the tiny shock Ginny'd had when the witch had tried to activate her portkey on the train, a pretty little black crystal acting as jewellery around her neck.

She snorted, "What is with people putting magic in bits of jewellery?"

Percy snapped his neck at her, eyes wide. "What did you say?"

It wasn't just a question, it was a demand. Rachel frowned.

"Cool it. I wasn't talking to you. Just saying stuff out loud."

"What stuff?"

She huffed in reply. "I dunno. Like the portkeys you guys have. Or the pendant disguise you gave me for the party. Or that bracelet on your arm… whatever."

She turned back to the window, but could feel his eyes on him.

"Can I see the ticket?" Percy asked. He sounded calmer, curious.

She shrugged. "Gave it to that Auror, Tonks."

"Why?"

Rachel found him glaring at her. Again. "What's your problem?"

"Excuse me?"

She sat up straight, "I thought we weren't talking anymore."

"I'm serious here." Percy snapped.

"And I don't care." She shot him a smirk, feeling viciously happy when he gritted his teeth at her. Percy was too angry and mean for her to like him anymore.

"You're hiding something." He said. There was this look in his eye. She felt like he was scanning her, looking right into her head to understand what she was thinking –

Rachel tore her gaze away from him, pressing a palm to her eyes. They felt like they were burning, like she was about to cry, for absolutely no reason.

Bolt stirred in her lap. She didn't wake up, but Rachel placed a hand on her Familiar's back, trying to soothe her.

"You know what…" Percy muttered. Rachel looked up, when she heard his voice turn into a bold taunt.

"What?" She shot back.

His lips turned up, but it wasn't exactly a smile. "You're right about jewellery. Articles like gems and precious metals are carefully crafted, with manual labour and dedication. It's not farfetched to attach specific pieces of magic to such items. Necklaces, rings, and bracelets are most common."

His head tilted in her direction, a sneer in his face, "Pendants, stones, and charms just have this quality about them… you make the wrong choice, you can't turn back."

Rachel felt like her heart stopped. Everything in her body seized. The way Percy was watching her, the insinuation in his words…

He knew about the scythe charm.

But how… not DJ, DJ would never…

Percy leaned towards her. "If I were you, I'd stop accusing others, and focus on my worries."

Rachel pushed down the abject fear that struck her. "Are you _threatening_ me?"

He looked amused, sitting back as though nothing were wrong. His green eyes looked dim and clouded with viscous shades. "I don't have to."

She turned away, staring resolutely in front of her, watching as they drove through grey scaled London. Sally took a turn and they drove into a monumental suspension bridgethat was painted in bright colours like pink, blue and green. The car slowed down less than half way through, when the other vehicles bunched up at a point.

Rachel sat back with a huff. Great. Stuck in traffic with Percy-the-asshole. She should have squeezed in with Nico and DJ.

Percy turned away from her and Rachel relaxed for a bare second before she felt a shiver run down her spine.

DJ sat up straight. She couldn't see his expression, just his wayward hair. But she could almost feel how tense he grew. Percy stiffened as well. Sally and Sirius stopped talking.

They felt it. Rachel knew. None of them had to say a word, but they all felt that shift in the air, the coarse, near tangible, prickling of fear that struck them all.

She felt the noises outside the car melt away. Something shimmered in the air. The dull clouds turned into wispy colours of purple and silver for one brief moment –

Nico woke up with a gasp. He grabbed onto the headrest of Sirius's seat, leaning forwards and panting. DJ clutched his shoulder to steady him.

"What is it?" Sally asked, already starting to panic. Sirius exhaled roughly, opening the door to step outside to gauge the suddenly silent bridge.

Rachel saw many people getting out of their cars, looking around nervously. Everyone had felt it, whatever _it_ was.

"We…" Nico gasped, swallowing deep breaths. "We need to get out. Now!"

DJ looked up to stare at her and Rachel twisted the strap of her seatbelt.

"We're jammed in." Sirius said, still outside the car. He had a tight grip on the door. "Sally can you –"

"I can't reverse." She said, frustrated. "Too many cars –"

There was an outburst of loud voices, ahead on the road. Sirius turned around to squint at the bottom end of the bridge. DJ stood up, reaching a hand to touch a button on the car ceiling. The moon-roof slid open and DJ stood on the seat, poking his head out of the car to stare into the distance.

"I can see people running." He said. Rachel felt her heart thud painfully against her ribs.

DJ turned around to observe the route they came from. "We can't get out, it's –"

"That car's flying." Percy interrupted him in a sharp tone. Rachel and DJ glared at him before looking ahead.

Nico sat up staring and Sally too, gaped through the windshield. Rachel felt like she couldn't move.

There was a tiny dark point in the sky. It was a car, but why would there be a car in the sky? Cars couldn't fly.

The longer Rachel stared, the more she realised that it was growing in size, twisting and turning its large, heavy, metal body.

She could hear the screaming from far away. It reminded her of the screams on the train. But there were no spiders here, just cars falling from the sky.

"Get out!" Sally shrieked, turning the key and unlocking all doors. Rachel jammed her thumb against the release of the belt to free herself. She threw her weight on the door, yanking open the handle to pushing it outwards.

She heard the groaning of hot metal, could smell the torrid odour of gas, and felt it even before the shadow passed right over her. Rachel hurled herself out of the car, falling on the hot cement with a heavy thud.

DJ and Sally landed to her left at almost the same time, just a millisecond before the motor projectile landed on their rented car, crashing into the glass and metal and crushing it like a soda can. The screech from the collision grated on her ears and Rachel clamped her scrapped and shaking arms over the sides of her head.

Something – no, someone – flung themselves over her. Rachel didn't have to open her eyes to know that DJ had braced himself, his skin turning into veritable armour, before settling on her like a cage.

The bridge shook from the impact. People started to scream for real. Rachel felt someone's leg nearly kick her in the head as they ran for safety, but DJ stopped any hits.

In the distance she heard a loud, enraged roar. It seemed to shake the foundation of the bridge. The cement road beneath her trembled.

"Oh my gods!" DJ gasped. He had raised his head to look at the source of the roar. Rachel found exactly what he was looking at.

The thing seemed like a wickedly horrific silhouette, large even though it must have been several hundred metres away. It reminded her of a Greek monster. Nothing else could be that frightening. It looked like a sphinx, but the huge creature had bat-like wings as well. It was enormous, towering over a truck and roaring as it used a long tail, tipped off with a poison sting at the end, like a scorpion, to punch right through the nearest cars. Every time it roared and leaped over the vehicles and people, the bridge quavered.

The elevated road tilted to the side by a fraction of an angle but that was enough to create a stampede. Abandoning their cars, people rushed for land, jumping over everyone and knocking everything down. Rachel lost sight of Sally while DJ grabbed her by the arm to yank her to her feet. He pulled her to the side and pushed her over the rails and onto the footpath.

And then the suspension wires over them started to snap. Rachel and DJ dropped to the ground, on opposite sides of the rail, as the wires flew over their heads. The cables fell upon the crowds and blood spurted everywhere.

She could smell it. It was hot and rancid, its spray having hit her arms, clothes and the sides of the walls.

"Get out!" DJ roared at her. Rachel shook, looking up, trying to find a way to run back to the mainland. But the path had been blocked by cars and several people still sprinting.

"It's blocked!" She screamed.

DJ took out his portkey necklace, yanking it above his head and pushing it into her hands.

"Wear it and press the knotted joint." He ordered. "Go!"

Rachel sat back, staring as DJ got up and ran back to the crushed car to find where the others had hidden.

* * *

Nico took out his sword. The moment its Stygian Iron blade manifested in the air, the scorpion monster froze. It lifted its head, sniffing. Then it turned to face Nico.

There had to be half a mile of distance between the demigod and the monster, but it didn't stop either of them. The monster charged towards him, shrieking its head off, the wings and poisoned tipped tail whipping about, halfway across the bridge, it vaulted into the air, wings beating heavily.

"NICO!" Sirius roared. "Get back here!"

But he was already running towards the centre of the trembling bridge. He jumped over the cables, leaped over the cars, avoiding the panicked mob that was rushing in the opposite direction.

It was definitely Greek. The sphinx like creature snarled, snapping its jaws at him.

It gave a great sniff, sucking in air through its nose. He knew it could smell him easily now. The creature roared, loudly enough that the bridge trembled and tilted even more. Nico saw a mortal fall off the side. He turned back to see the tail of the creature descend upon him.

Nico did the quickest tuck and roll he had ever done to get away from the strike. The monster reared back and slashed at him again. The sting made divots in the cement road. Nico dodged it again. The thing, the flying scorpion, moved to the side and roared at him. Its tail dove underneath an SUV and with a powerful flick, upturned the 4000 pound vehicle, sending it towards him.

He jumped out of the way and landed in the shadow of a jeep, immediately disappearing and reappearing behind the monster. He brought his sword across one of its thick, corded legs, chopping of its foot cleanly. Ichor and dirt splattered across the cement and the monster growled in pain, moving away from him. Its tail reared up again and Nico melted into the shadows, wondering where Percy was.

* * *

Tom inhaled, nearly gasping as he saw the wires across the bridge snap one by one. The lanes were blocked by cars all abandoned by people as they screamed and ran away. One of the supports under the bridge crumbled and the centre gave way. The bridge tilted alarmingly and several vehicles along the side fell, crashing into the water below.

He needed to get out of here. Tom was ready to summon the some of his reserve energy to apparated away when Sally called out, "Percy!"

Tom swore. Turning around he found her running towards him. She caught his hand and he did his best to not flinch away. She had a horrible look of concern, hair tendrils plastered to her sweaty face. It made him want to just snap her neck. Nobody had ever stared at him like that.

"You need to get out of here." Sally said, urgently. Tom nodded.

"Okay. What about you?"

"I… Sirius is going to get Nico and DJ. I'm going to find Rachel…"

"I saw her on the walker's path."

"Good. But you need to leave now. That monster's here for you and Nico."

That's why she was worried. Tom figured there had to be a reason an Ancient Greek monster, the Skorpios, was in London of all places. He was sure there hadn't been a monster attack on muggle public this drastic since the previous war.

He could do something. He could save them. Percy raised his hand, ready to call upon the river to safely catch the falling people and deposit them onto shore.

"Got it." He muttered. Sally nodded, her concern shifting to a mildly suspicious look. Tom blinked at her, widening his eyes. Then he swooped forwards to peck her cheek.

"Be careful!" He said, before turning around to run behind a row of cars, trying to get to a safe enough distance before he could apparated away.

Tom was well aware that Percy would never leave Sally in such a dangerous situation. But he couldn't stay. He needed to get to the safe house where he'd hidden the other horcruxes. The ring and diadem, along with the newly acquired goblet of Hufflepuff were stashed away in the basement, behind the organ's pipes. The locket was still around Percy's throat, disguised as the camp necklace that Harry had pathetically broken. As though it would have made a difference.

He ran past an overturned lorry when the shadows on the road shifted, converging right in front of him. Nico emerged from the road like a corpse trying to crawl its way out of a grave. Tom slid to a stop, nearly cursing the demigod.

"For Mer – Nico!" Tom gritted his teeth.

"Have you seen DJ?!" Nico gasped, getting to his feet. He swayed alarmingly, ready to fall. Tom grabbed his side and lowered him to the ground.

"No. Look. That thing's here for us. We need to leave."

Nico opened his eyes, wincing at a cut on the side of his face. He stared up at Tom.

"What? Leave?"

"Yeah! It's here for us – "

"But it's gonna kill everyone!" Nico panicked. One of his arms flailed. He tried to sit up but dropped his sword on the road. He wrapped his arms around his stomach and groaned.

"You must have taken a bad hit." Tom muttered, looking back at the monster. He blinked.

"There's DJ." Tom continued in the same breath, almost casually. Nico looked up and gasped.

There was only one person standing between Skorpios and the rest of them. DJ had planted himself on the road in front of the towering monster, using everything he had in him to keep it at bay. Tom recognized the influx of spells, almost snorting. DJ was purposefully not using illegal curses, probably for some moral reason. Tom could easily list ten curses that any beginner could use to strike their target down.

The creature gave an enraged shriek as a cutting curse grazed one of its eyes. It brought its stinger down and DJ threw his arms up, conjuring a shield.

Bad move. He should have dodged the tail. The tip hit the shield and even from the distance, Tom could hear him cry out in pain and exhaustion.

"We have to –" Nico groaned, leaning against Tom. "We have to help –"

"What we have to do is get outta here." Tom retaliated. His New York accent was a decent imitation of Percy's, but stressing on the oddest syllables just gave him a headache.

"We can't leave!" Nico yelled, glaring at up at him. Tom clenched his jaw, tightening his grip around Nico's wrist. The boy sounded like one of the more whiny children from his orphanage. It was irritating and brought up supressed memories.

"Do not make me stun you!" Tom snapped, shaking his arm violently. Nico flinched.

"Let go!" He pressed against Tom's arm, moving away. "You're hurting me!"

The high pitch in his voice struck something in Tom's core. He felt a sharp burst of pain erupting in his palm and immediately let go of Nico's hand, stepping back.

His palm was red, burnt from whatever Nico did to him.

Both boys stared at each other in silence.

" _What the bloody hell was that?_ " Tom hissed, touching his aching palm. It felt as though he'd pressed against a hot metal surface.

Nico stumbled back, eyes wide in shock and fear. "Percy?"

Tom stopped. Shit, he'd dropped the accent.

* * *

Rachel couldn't activate the portkey.

She had slung the thread around her neck and had pressed the knotted joint above the black crystal, but nothing had happened.

Her heart leapt up to her throat now. Bolt was still knocked out from all the potions she'd had to heal from the Acromantula bite. Rachel was stuck on the bridge.

 _Get out, get out, get out._

It felt like someone was whispering those words to her.

She looked around, feeling the bridge shake again. Most of the people had cleared from the vicinity of the scorpion monster. Sirius was on the other side of the median, helping some pedestrians to cross over a broken truck. Then he turned around and tried to run towards DJ.

That plan changed when the shield that DJ had conjured broke with a violent collision of the scorpion's body against it. DJ flew backwards, at least fifty feet, slamming into the side of one of the bridge's metal towers.

Rachel nearly shrieked. His body had caused a dent in the column, and he dropped to the base heavily, motionless.

It felt like the rest of the world was shrieking at her to _do something_.

 _Get out, get out, get out._

Rachel climbed over the railing to land on the road, running towards him. She reached the column and knelt in front of DJ.

His eyes were closed, his face was bruised on the whole of his left side. His arms were pale but his hands were red from the strain of trying to fight the monster.

"DJ!" She touched his neck, even though she could see him breathing. His pulse was racing, beating painfully against the pads of her fingers.

"Ra…" he tried to say, but winced.

"Oh gods! You need to get out! Take this!" She took off the necklace and slung it above his head, but he opened his eyes and pushed her hand away.

"What… what are you doing…"

"I think this works only for you!" Rachel protested, trying to avoid his hands. He was too weak to fight against her, so he relented.

But his body went rigid, eyes catching something behind her. Rachel turned around, still clutching the portkey. All air left her lungs and she gaped at the sight of a school bus, hurtling right at them.

The bright yellow and white paint was eye-catching. She froze, unable to move from her spot, one knee still touching the hot, dirty cement.

Time seemed to slow down. All the noises around her became distance echoes and she felt the wind touch her face gently.

 _Do something._

 _Move._

 _Rachel!_

 _GET OUT!_

What about DJ?

The last thoughts sounded oddly like a conversation. But, he wasn't here. He was dead.

Rachel let out a breath, caught the sight of something to her left. Sally was standing on the other side of the road. There was something shining bright on her arm.

The bus was growing bigger. Hadn't it hit her yet?

She heard the _clink_ of something metallic. There was a gold (bronze?) object flying at her, bright from its deep blue glow.

Rachel watched dumbly as the thing attached itself to her exposed arm, locking its clasp into place.

The noises came back to her in a _whoosh._ Rachel felt everything slam into her sense, saw the bus barely feet from her and turned around, throwing her arms over her head, ducking down and letting out a sob.

Nearly thirty thousand pounds of metal crashed into Rachel's back.

In the distance, she could hear DJ screaming, she could hear metal bending and breaking completely as the bus hit the road, completely broken into two pieces. The two sides fell on either side of her, sliding on the road and throwing up a mess of sparks.

Rachel stared at the bus. She stared at the two halves of the destroyed vehicle. She stared at DJ, who was completely horrified and speechless, still lying on his side and looking up at her.

She stared at her hands. Was this real? How could she still be alive?

Rachel turned to her left saw a bracelet on her upper arm. That was odd. She didn't remember putting that on. Did she even own something like that? It felt weird. It had tiny charms, hanging from the bronze band, all glowing in blue.

Behind her, the scorpion screeched. Its shadow fell over her. DJ looked up, and she wondered if he was going to try and shield them. There was no way that would work, he was completely exhausted and very injured.

"RACHEL, MOVE!" Sally Jackson's voice came as an eruption and Rachel's mind went blank, immediately moving to obey the direct order. She leapt off from the road, flying twenty feet into the air. Rachel turned onto her back, flipping over, not understanding why everything felt so easy, yet so heavy.

The scorpion's stinger crashed into the ground, exactly where she'd just been kneeling. Rachel did a backflip and landed on top of the monster, her weight falling like a dense shot-put ball. The scorpion shrieked, its legs trembling from the impact. It crashed onto the ground, belly colliding against the hot road painfully.

Quickly, Rachel rolled to her side, sliding off its back. She landed on the ground, feeling the road crack beneath her torn shoes. Without losing a second, she charged at the monster and smashed right into its side, pushing it away from DJ and practically hurling it into the iron beams on the side of the bridge.

The scorpion's wings suddenly came down, smacking her away. Rachel hit the road, but tucked and rolled to a stop, feeling quite jittery with all the energy running through her body.

Then it turned around, ignoring DJ completely and facing Rachel, hatred growing in its eyes. She held up her fists in front of her, feeling nothing but the intensity that coursed through her blood. She felt powerful.

* * *

Tom threw a stunning curse at Nico, who had been so shocked, he didn't even try to dodge it. The spell found its mark and the demigod crumpled.

His hand still burned. Tom clutched at it, staring at the palm and watching as the veins stood out. Above the burn, the bracelet suddenly gave a glow.

The air around him shimmered. At first, Tom thought it was the mist, but then he barely blinked and thought he saw Harry standing in front of him.

Tom stared, completely frozen. The burn on his arm, no, Percy's arm, heightened. Harry stood there, between him and Nico, fists clenched, green eyes practically glowing, ready for a duel.

That wasn't possible. He was still dead. He was supposed to be… He…

"Get out." Harry muttered, low and foreboding. Tom stumbled, back hitting the rails of the bridge.

The bracelet on his arm started to itch, then it started to burn. The locket tried to rebel, but the bracelet was stronger. It removed the glamour, revealing the horcrux to anyone who saw him.

Except the only person seeing Tom now, was Harry. But that wasn't possible. It just wasn't –

Harry grabbed the collars of his jacket, fury burning in every bit of his presence. He was real?

"I said… GET OUT!"

Then he pushed him. Tom gasped, feeling the hands leave him, feeling like he tipped over the side of the bridge. Harry was glaring at him, eyes truly glowing now, a bright and poisonous green, while black vapour seemed to envelope his body.

Tom was falling. He felt the air whip by, the sick feeling of weightlessness, true fear assaulting his awareness. The only sounds were that of the wind as he fell faster and faster…

Right into the Thames.

Water enveloped him, sucking him down. He clamped his mouth shut, lungs already protesting. A fall like that should have killed him. How was he still alive? How was he still awake and moving?

Tom struggled, trying to form a bubblehead charm. The water slowed all movements, making him feel weak, like he was moving through molasses.

The burning bracelet gave out a pulse of energy that ran right through his entire body. His veins felt like they'd popped, a kind of pressure pushing against his skin from the inside. Hot flames surged through his head and Tom tried to scream, but found that he couldn't open his mouth, couldn't move anymore, because it wasn't his body to move.

The locket was ripped off of Percy's skin and launched into the murky depths of the river. Tom faded away.

* * *

"Calles!" Tonks was yelling.

Healer Sierra Calles could hear the auror screaming from the fifth floor. With her office on the third, Sierra dropped her white coat and grabbed her wand, apparating right outside the door to the special corridor. Tonks turned around, her pink her dulling to a frantic silver-grey.

"The alarms in his room went off. I can't get through the energy shield –"

She strode into the corridor, running past the multiple aurors who were standing guard at Harry's door. She cancelled the automatic locking mechanism she'd erected, in case of an emergency.

This looked like an emergency. Harry's body was surrounded by misty layers of green and black. The lights flickered wildly and the window adjacent to the bed slammed against the frame.

"Lock it!" She told Tonks, pointing at the window. She approached the bed slowly, wondering if this was it, if Harry was going to wake up…

The bracelet was glowing a deep blue. Sierra caught sight of the air shimmering over his body. The ward around his bed flickered, but held steady as whatever was happening continued.

Sierra could hardly believe her eyes. Even as she watched, the gruesome hole in Harry's torso, the COD, started to close up. The bones cracked back into place, his muscles aligned together, skin stitching up to seal the gap. Under the aura of green and black, she observed the blue of the bracelet, healing him wherever ever necessary. The cuts on his arms and face closed, leaving no sign of bruises. The dirty grey colour of his skin lessened to a degree, turning slightly blue. Not yet, pink. His heart was still silent.

Sierra stepped forwards and noticed when the healing slowed to a stop. Every recorded inch of his skin that had an injury, was no sealed up, without a mark. She saw that the residual mark left by the Killing Curse, on his chest lightened, though still pale against his dull skin.

The healing process was done and the bracelet retained its regular state, not drawing attention to itself. Harry's aura dimmed as well, gradually moving in soft waves over his form till they disappeared altogether.

"No way." Tonks whispered. Sierra could feel the eyes of at least five aurors staring down at the body in front of her.

The Healer waited. She stared at the pulse recorder, the band that was wrapped around his wrist. It was static.

No pulse.

Harry lay there, motionless, still _dead_ , medically speaking.

The second most unsettling aspect of the process, in Sierra's opinion, was that Harry's lightning shaped scar on his forehead was completely gone.

* * *

The winds picked up. Sally found Sirius, kneeling beside Nico. The demigod was lying down, eyes shut tight, listening to whatever Sirius was saying.

"Are you hurt?!" Sally cried, falling beside him. "Are you okay? Nico?"

"Someone stunned him." Sirius growled through his teeth.

"Percy." Nico muttered.

Sally gaped. "Percy can't… only witches and wizards can stun people."

"It wasn't Percy." Nico opened his eyes. Sally winced at how utterly helpless Nico looked.

"What d'you mean –"

"He… it wasn't him. I know." Nico said. "I know Percy. That wasn't him."

Something died inside her. Sally clutched at her stomach, feeling sick.

"That's… how…"

"Percy can go through locked doors." Nico mumbled.

Sirius's head snapped up. He looked at him in disbelief. "No. That's…oh fuck!"

He whipped out his mirror and screamed, "ALBUS DUMBLEDORE!"

Sally helped Nico sit up. It was starting to rain, tiny freezing drops hitting his skin. The wind was loud, smearing his ears with dirt.

Nico caught her arm, trying to steady himself. He froze.

"Where… where's the bracelet?" He couldn't feel it under her sweater.

"Never mind, you're bleeding –"

"Sally!" Nico said. She stared at him. Then she turned around and pointed at Rachel…

…who had just delivered a sucker punch at the scorpion monster. The creature bellowed in pain, smashing into a metal beam.

Rachel landed on her feet again, pointing both arms at one of the fallen cars beside her. In a glow of green and gold, it rose above her head. She aimed it at the monster and it flew ahead, crashing into the lethal stinger, pinning the tail to the road.

Nico stared. "What?"

"It chose her." Sally whispered.

Sirius was still yelling into the mirror. "… Albert Bridge, _now_! Dung was right, damn it! It's a huge scorpion monster, it has crazy wings and venom!"

"It's the _Skorpios_." Nico whispered, staring at the strangest battle he'd ever seen.

The Skorpios was one of the more legendary Ancient Greek monsters. It had been defeated by Orion, but its ability to instil fear into anyone who barely heard the name was what contributed to its fear mongering reputation. There was a reason why the Ancients had immortalized it as a constellation in the night sky.

The moment Nico'd said its name, the monster froze, limbs seizing up. He wondered if Rachel had been able to get in a good strike. But then, the creature turned and sniffed in Nico's direction.

"Shit!" Sally swore. She grabbed Nico's shoulder. "Sirius, get us out of here!"

Nico frantically looked around, searching for his sword. Skorpios let out a screech so devastating that his ears burned at the noise. It made a violent move tugging its tail out from underneath the car, and kicking out a leg at Rachel. But she ducked in time, catching its limb and yanking.

The sound was like that was a bone crunching to dust. With a horrible crack, the leg snapped off and Skorpios roared again, swivelling around with sudden dexterity that its tail collided into Rachel's side. She was thrown back into a car, smashing right through the window, the severed leg laying on top of her.

Nico saw that she hesitated in getting up.

She was hurt, he realised.

Skorpios turned away from her and charged at Nico, scuttling over the cars and crushing them under its legs.

It was raining heavily now. Sirius looked up, saw the approaching monster and grabbed Nico's shoulder, curling an arm around Sally.

The river crashed into the bridge.

Nico spluttered as water hit him from the side, but only momentarily. Someone flew up from below the bridge, landing on the road between them and the scorpion.

It was probably the most terrifying and awesome thing he'd seen all day, and it had been a long day.

Percy was standing in front of Skorpios, his sword and dagger out. His body was tense, shoulders back, head forwards.

Nico knew it was Percy. This was him. It was him because the river had risen, water curling to form fluid walls on either side of the bridge, both taller than the monster. He knew it was him because even from the distance his bracelet was glowing and the mist shimmered in green and blue tones.

Nico knew it was Percy because Skorpios slowed to a stop, looking down at the demigod with a hint of wariness.

Percy charged. He yelled something in Latin and the waves rose higher, curving over the monster and crashing heavily. Water flooded the roads. Nico flinched as he saw the waves rush towards him, but Sirius's hand tightened over his shoulder and the three disapparated.

* * *

Percy had woken up in the river. He thought he saw the shape of the locket floating away in the darkness of the river. That damned locket had been the thing to start the entire downhill journey to insanity. He was glad for it, because the river water was letting him breathe. It embraced him unlike ocean waves that night after the party.

He couldn't remember much. The last thing…

He'd talked to Grover. No, that had been in his head. The last time he was aware of himself, he'd helped Tom abduct Stan Shunpike.

Then he remembered pain.

It was so weird to not feel any pain now. He reached up to touch his neck, starting when he felt the bareness. No locket. No camp necklace.

Percy looked up through the water. The surface was barely lit.

His bracelet felt hot. Right, he still had a strange piece of jewellery stuck to him. Can't forget that.

 _Get out._

What? Percy frowned. May be he was crazy, but that sounded like Harry –

He nearly gasped. Harry! Oh gods, Tom had said… he'd… what if he'd gotten to…

The heat from the bracelet (no, _armlet_ , that's what Annabeth called it) surged again, and he heard noises of roars and screaming in his head.

 _Get out._

Get out of where? The water? But Percy was so comfortable here, he felt safe. The water was where he was supposed to be –

"Percy, get out."

Percy swallowed. This time, he knew it sounded like Harry. Harry wouldn't be saying that if it wasn't necessary.

He took in a deep breath and swam upwards. The moment his head broke the surface, he saw it.

He saw the bridge, swaying above him, pieces of concrete and iron falling into the water. Many of the cables were dangling from the towers. The clouds were a grey and dull, London-style.

He heard the roar of a monster. It set his skin ablaze, making him skittish. It sounded like a Greek monster, except he was London, so there couldn't be a Greek monster in England…

Except… there was.

 _Get out._

Percy touched his jeans pocket. He felt Riptide there.

Making the decision, he gathered up the waters and shot out of the river like a geyser, reaching high above the bridge.

He saw a lot of things. He saw upturned cars, blocking various parts of the lanes. He spotted the vivid red of Rachel's hair. He saw the bright colours on DJ's vest jacket. He found Nico, Sally, and Sirius huddled beside a broken car.

Percy also saw a giant scorpion with wings, stumbling on seven legs, and dashing across the median to get to them.

He felt the bracelet flare up again, but he didn't need it to. Percy fell with a grace he hadn't felt in a long time, the river curling all around him. He landed on his feet, his ankles taking the brunt of the fall, but they didn't hurt.

He felt amazing. Great.

Whipping out both Riptide and Oneroi, Percy charged at the scorpion, at the same time, dropping thousands of gallons of water on top of it.

The monster screeched, sliding against the waves, barely noticing when Percy vaulted over it to drive Riptide right behind its head. The blade broke the hard skin of its back and sank in with some difficulty.

Percy saw that some of his sword's blade looked dull. The usual gleam of Celestial Bronze was gone. He gritted his teeth and swung to the front, holding the hilt of Riptide. With a swift jab, he stabbed the scorpion's eye with his dagger.

Blood and some other fluid burst out, coating his arm with the pungent odour. Percy grimaced, but pulled out the blade as the scorpion bucked, trying to throw him off. He ripped out his sword and pushed off the side to land on the road.

The river was all around them. Percy felt connected to it way more than he'd ever controlled water. He directed the river to flow upstream and crash over the scorpion again. If lethal stabs to the neck couldn't kill it, then it'd have to drown it.

 _Like he'd drowned Bellatrix._

Percy shook his head. No, he didn't kill her. He'd just knocked her out…

He had killed others.

Percy faltered, standing for a second too long, just as a car flew at him.

The scorpion had pitched a vehicle in his direction. Percy cried out as he leaped away, the edge of the bumper hitting his knee.

It broke. His leg bent in the wrong direction. Pain exploded in his kneecap and shin bone and Percy dropped to the ground, nearly face-planting.

The water receded and the scorpion let out a victory shriek and charged.

Percy panicked.

He threw both arms up, summoning as much of the river as he could. A single gigantic wave rose over their heads just as the tug in his gut became heavy.

The wave fell again, smashing into the both of them. Percy grabbed Riptide and felt some the water try to help heal his leg.

"Come on, come on!" He muttered. The scorpion gave a loud gurgle, swallowing a lot of the water. Percy could feel it. He could feel it everywhere, in puddles, surrounding the cars. He could feel the flood on the bridge, he could feel the water inside the scorpion.

The pain lessened and he took his chance.

Percy got to his feet, leaning towards the right to take his weight of the slowly healing leg. He concentrated at the struggling scorpion.

The waves swirled, enveloping them like a hurricane. Percy focused everything he had on the centre, on the monster, trying to connect to the water in its body.

The rain fell harder. The clouds turned stormy grey, gathering right above them. Percy felt the pain abate entirely and stood there, hands clasped around both his weapons.

It was too easy.

The scorpion gave a roar of agony. It could feel what he was doing. Percy clenched his jaw, tightening his entire body, focusing single-mindedly on the creature. Water was leaving its body. Whether evaporating or literally flowing from its mouth, Percy didn't care. He was just removing it.

The monster started to scream and flail. It fell on its belly, legs shrinking into dust. The smell of sulphur and ozone was ripe even in the rain.

A high pitched sound, like white noise, filled his ears. Percy glowered at the scorpion, determined to destroy it.

Its body began to crumple inwards. It's back broke, caving into the abdomen as vapour rose in dreary waves. The scorpion was withering away into the wet air, washes away by the rain. It stopped screaming exactly when the entirety of its body was crushed as though the pressure around it was too much for the creature's being.

It drifted away into nothingness and Percy reeled back. The rains slowed, and the clouds moved away. The water fell back into the river and the bridge swayed, almost soothingly. Percy stared at the remains.

The poisoned tip of the scorpion's tail had fallen. It was shaped like a curved cone, almost gleaming. It was still covered in venom. He frowned at it and raised Riptide, driving the blade into the cone, cracking it beyond use.

Suddenly, everything was silent. Percy just looked at the broken tip, at his sword still sticking out of the cemented road. He stood there for a while, not completely aware of what had just happened.

"Hmm." Someone said. Percy closed his eyes. He knew that voice. He knew he'd never forget that voice.

Tom was standing there, near the edge of the bridge. But he wasn't all there. His form seemed to flicker, as though without Percy, he just didn't have enough energy to hold a solid presence. The cursed locket was dangling from his neck and Percy felt a rush of rage, unbridled.

"I'm going to kill you." Percy promised, glaring at him, wishing that Tom had a proper body so that he could suck the water out him, watch him wither away into nothing.

Tom raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. "Will you now? I thought you hated violence."

"I'll make an exception for you."

Percy turned his body to face him, staring at the locket, staring at the intricate **S** marked out with tiny emeralds embedded into the gold sheath.

Tom's eyes gleamed red and Percy dodged the flash of light that emerged from his hands. He bent and rolled, careful to not get close, to not get anywhere near that locket. He grabbed Riptide from its hold in the ground and swung it at Tom, who disappeared and reappeared to the side.

A sharp white curse hit Percy in the chest. It sucked out the air in his lungs and he gasped, clawing at his throat.

He tried to pull in a breath, tried to inhale, but nothing worked.

Tom snorted, sneering at him. "For someone so powerful, a simple striking spell can just incapacitate you. It that your real fatal flaw? Asthma?"

Percy fell down, hands hitting the road. His brain was screaming. He couldn't breathe.

Like the scorpion.

Tom smiled. "You should have stayed in the water."

He disappeared, not exactly disapparating, but simply vanishing into the air.

Percy felt tears roll down his face as he scratched his throat, trying to suck in air, but he just couldn't. He tried to find a puddle on the road, but there was none of the river's water left. Dropping both blade, he dragged himself to the side, trying to pull his body up to the beam that ran alongside the bridge. If he could just get back into the water –

His arms seized, muscles going taut. Pain like nothing before, not even when his knee had broken, hit him from everywhere. There was no air in his body. Percy was going to die here, screaming soundlessly.

* * *

 **Percy's back! And dying…**

 **Sorry about that. Stay tuned for the next update. We're near the end.**

 **Q: How do you kill a dementor?**

 **Cabba.**


	53. A Shadow of Hope

**A: Dementors are non-beings. I would say any coarse, raw magical energy can obliterate them. Or there may be a specific spell that can destroy them. Good answers, everyone!**

 **Lord of Erebor: Absolutely**

 **evenstarlily: Thank you! Your words mean so much!**

 **Catie Cat: Yeah, Percy's going to have some good character development. Good guesses.**

 **Lady among the trees: EEEP! I love your reaction.**

 **brade1991: In my stories, Percy is more dependent on water, being a son of Poseidon. So he breathes better in water than in air. He has asthmatic symptoms, and if he ever displays them, he would need water, his inhaler, or the likes, to start breathing again.**

 **Child of Dreams: YES!**

 **percyjacksonfan135: Glad to see you're catching up!**

 **Listening to:** _ **Famous Last Words**_ **by My Chemical Romance**

* * *

 _Monday, Dec 3; 7:00 p.m.  
Albert Bridge, London_

Leaving Nico beside one of the ambulances, Sally and Sirius dashed back towards the bridge. They ducked under the yellow police tape and she heard people calling them back but didn't dare slow down.

The moment the rain abated and the monster disappeared, she knew it was Percy who'd done it. She didn't know how, but that was the truth.

Sirius took out his wand and blasted an upturned car out of their way. Throwing all caution to the winds, the pair ran to the centre of the bridge, finding no sign of any of the kids.

"Split up!" Sirius said, climbing over the median on the right. Sally continued down her lane, avoiding all the vehicles and feeling the bridge still sway under the ferocious attack.

Percy, DJ, and Rachel were still somewhere in the debris. She'd seen DJ grow weary after holding a foolhardy shield against the monster and she'd seen Rachel pause after the girl was launched right into a car.

That was another problem. The bracelet had found its latest soldier. Three for the Patron. Sally itched the skin that had been covered by the bracelet, now that it was no longer on her.

She heard a hoarse gasp, the sound rattling right into her bones. Sally climbed over the hood of a smoking car and found Percy lying face down on the road, right by the railing. He was barely moving, clearly in incredible pain.

"Percy!" She ran to him, falling on her knees to touch his face. His eyes snapped open and she could see terror in them. He gave another suffocating groan.

Sally swore, feeling her own hysteria rise. She pulled him up by the collar of his jacket, letting him rest his back over the vertical bars of the railing. Then she searched his pockets for his inhaler.

Letting out a string of swear words in her head, Sally searched her own pockets, coming up with a tupe of lipstick, a pen, a USB drive…

Not a pen, an Epi-pen.

Sally stared. She didn't even recall having that with her.

Percy's eyes rolled back in his head. He nearly slumped to the side. Sally screamed, opening the lid and holding Percy's leg down to jab the sharp tip into his thigh, right where the denim was torn.

She injected the blue liquid in, holding the pen firm, waiting, waiting –

Percy's head snapped up, eyes growing wide enough that she could see the ocean rising like someone had summoned it. He sucked in a long gasping breath of air.

Sally removed the epi-pen, dropping it and pulling Percy towards her. His hands shook and she could feel the sob that wracked through his body. She placed a hand on his chest and said, "Listen to me, baby. I need you to take deep breaths. In and out. Come on, with me, Pepe! In and out."

Percy dropped his head to the side of her neck, trying to obey her. It took a while, but soon, her son was breathing along with her and Sally felt like she could cry from sheer relief and exhaustion.

* * *

 _Monday, Dec 3; 2:15 p.m.  
CHB, Long Island, US_

Everyone in camp was huddled inside cabin 9. The Hephaestus kids had hijacked the best dish connection and now they watched the news of a disturbing attack on London, live.

"… _no evidence or clear reports as to the on-goings on Albert Bridge."_ The news reporter said. She was standing by the side of a road, her backdrop being an immense suspension bridge in the distance. It was easy to tell that there was a lot of destruction, especially with the broken cables, and the smoke-like vapour all around the towers.

" _Witnesses stated that the bridge began to shake and tremble before its structure proceeded to break under a sudden and very quick rainstorm. Several calls to 999 alluded to the same. Many pedestrians who were caught in the 'attack' claimed to have observed a monstrous shape behind the descending clouds_."

Clarisse swore. Annabeth buried her face in her palm.

Nyssa raised her hand, finger on the pause button of a remote. She clicked it and the tv screen froze on an image of raising smoke from the bridge.

There was no obvious fire or even a point of origin of smoke. Annabeth knew why she'd stopped the news.

"That's definitely a monster." Silena whispered, holding her breath. Annabeth agreed, staring at the faint silhouette against the smoke. It was large and had multiple legs with a thick curled tail above it, like a scorpion. It looked exactly like a scorpion monster hiding in the mist.

"When was the last time we caught an Ancient Greek monster anywhere in Europe?" Will asked.

"1952." Adam Cho responded quickly. He was sitting beside Silena, next to one of the cabin windows. "Right after World War II. And that was just a harpy infestation in Norway, nothing like this."

"Could it be the gods?" Katie murmured. "Monsters appear where there's godly activity, right?"

Malcolm shook his head, worry etched on his face. "Minion monsters tend to stay away from deities. They're attracted to demigods."

"Minion monsters? That thing was the size of a double story Walmart!" Drew argued.

"It actually reminded me of the scorpions Quintus made us fight over the summer." Kayla pointed out.

Annabeth winced. "This one's is too big for that. It's probable that this was Skorpios."

The campers fell silent. They looked at each other, nervous about the implication.

"A monster like that would prefer to attack camp, not a city thousands of miles across the ocean." Connor protested.

"May be they weren't after demigods. They were after wizards." Lacy suggested. She cringed when everyone turned to stare at her.

Drew's voice trembled. "You're saying this is our fault for putting them in danger?"

Lacy swallowed, staying still, eyes trained the ground. Annabeth hated that idea, even though it was one of explanations that had popped into her head. She shared a look with Malcolm, who'd probably arrived to the same conclusion.

Clarisse stood up, banging a fist against the wall. The sound startled everyone. Her boyfriend, Chris, nearly slipped and fell.

"Listen up!" She snapped. "Beckendorf, get as many as you can to start another round of offerings. If anyone can contact any god, that'll be a step. Trav, Con, change the border patrol shift now. Katie, get the dryads to check all preliminary defenses. Regular activities are cancelled for the day. Silena call Chiron and tell him everything we know. I want everyone on high alert."

Everyone shuffled, running out of the cabin to follow her instructions. Clarisse's eyes were still blazing as she turned towards Annabeth. "I know you're not on good terms with Jackson, but call him. Or Nico. If neither of them answers, we're going to their apartment to find out from Ms. Jackson. I want the both of them here before dinner."

Annabeth held her tongue at the jib and gave her a stiff nod. She left the Hephaestus cabin and trekked across the grounds towards her own.

Harry's mirror was with her. She could call Sally or DJ, if neither Percy nor Nico picked up their phones…

Malcolm caught up to her. "D'you think Harry's awake?"

She grimaced. "No. Nico told me that Sirius is getting worried because there's been no development."

Malcolm hummed. "Think we can sneak in Will? He might be able to help."

The siblings entered Cabin 6, the room strewn with books and assorted papers. Annabeth hopped towards her bunk, sliding out her phone from below her mattress.

Even though their phones rang, Percy and Nico didn't pick up her calls. Annabeth sighed, dialing Sally's number. She didn't answer either. Before trying the mirror, Annabeth called Rachel as a last ditch effort.

It rang ten times before going to voicemail.

"Is everyone so busy?!" Annabeth scolded her phone. She grabbed the mirror, propped it on her bed-stand and said, "DJ Potter."

"What if he doesn't answer either?" Malcolm asked.

"Then I'll go to –"

"London?"

" – Sally's apartment." Annabeth glared at him.

"She does have a floo…"

The mirror remained stationary, reflecting Annabeth's irritation. Where were they? How occupied could they be that they couldn't answer her call?

"I was thinking…" Malcolm started. Annabeth watched as he drummed his fingers on his thigh, unable to sit still.

"I was thinking that Percy might have been there."

She raised an eyebrow. "Been… at the bridge?"

"It did rain." He pointed out. "It stopped raining as soon as the scorpion disappeared. And I'm not saying that Percy handled it by himself, may be Nico was with him. Plus, there was a river right there. So, may be they did finish it off."

"May be." Annabeth agreed. "But why would they be on a bridge?"

"Nico can shadow travel. Percy can do that water-teleportation thing."

"They'd have known to lure it away from people."

Malcolm let out a sigh, falling onto his pillow. "Yeah. That's not always possible."

Annabeth stared back at the inactive mirror. She could see tiredness in the eyes of her reflection.

* * *

 _Monday, Dec 3; 7:30 p.m.  
Grimmauld Place, London_

"A locket, the ring, a diadem, and a goblet." Snape listed off.

Percy and Rachel sat at one end of the magically extended kitchen table in Grimmauld Place. The rest of the seats had been occupied by nearly all the Order members. They were staring at the teenagers as though they'd never seen anyone so strange.

Percy felt another shiver run through his body. He hated this. It felt like he was coming down from a spectacular high, except his high had been 'possessed by a horcrux'.

Beside him, Rachel sat there, bundled in one of DJ's jackets, effectively hiding her newly acquired bracelet. As though the day couldn't get any worse.

"That's why you created all those problems." Snape continued. "With the Knight Bus and the train –"

"That was Voldemort." Sirius snapped at him. "Unless your brain has selective memory storage, you'd recall when Percy explained that 'Tom' was leading all the plans."

Snape sent Sirius a glare worthy of Annabeth. "That was implied."

"Oh really!"

"Percy." Kingsley called and the two men fell silent. Percy stared at the Head Auror.

"Is it true you can manipulate any kind of defensive enchantments?"

He hesitated before answering, "I can walk through shields… like they're not there. I can't make a shield or a ward, though."

"Can you recall if you've broken into any other institute?"

Percy recounted his trip to Azkaban. Then he remembered Germany, and told them about that, as well. A part of him wished his mom wasn't there to hear, but she had been adamant to listen everything that he'd been through. Sally was sitting to his left, eyes glossy like she was just holding back from crying or screaming.

"You broke Bellatrix Lestrange out to enquire about the horcrux?" Emmaline Vance asked.

"Yes… Tom did some mind reading thing. Found out that the goblet was in her vault at Gringotts. So he made the whole plan of getting enough danger alerts to partially cause a shut down. Because bank rules are different for non-human regulated ones. If we were inside the premises when the alarm was sounded, they'd streamline our withdrawals. But he knocked out the goblin who was showing us around the tunnels and we went right to the Lestrange vault."

"And, how did you open it?" Kingsley asked, placing both hands on the table.

Percy took a deep breath. "I grabbed the handle and swung it open."

Everyone stared. Sirius blinked, "I beg your pardon."

"I just opened it… just like that."

Bill Weasley made a choked sound. Beside him, Fleur patted his hand and asked Percy, "Was eet the bracelet's doing?"

Percy started. The bracelet. Oh. He'd never given it a thought. That made sense, though. Sharing a look with Sally, he said, "Probably. I didn't think about it much."

"Didn't think…" Snape glared at him. "Was there ever a time you did think? Did you think before following a strange sound in this house? Did you think before putting on a mysterious locket? Did –"

Several people retaliated. Sirius stood up, his chair falling to the floor, McGonagall glowered at Snape, Sally grabbed Percy's arm, shooting daggers at the man, and Molly and Arthur, turned to respond as well. But what surprised everyone was when Rachel stood up and marched towards Snape, grabbing him by the collar.

"You blame Percy one more time, I'mma bitch slap you to back to the castle!"

The kitchen fell quiet. Percy felt his bracelet itch, but he could also see an aura around Rachel, ready to lash out unfavourably. Her skin was glowing in shades of green and gold, highlighting every aspect of her, even through the dirty clothes. She looked like someone no one would want to mess with and Snape did the right thing by staying silent.

"He didn't break in anywhere, it was Tom Riddle. It wasn't him who hurt all those people or planted bombs or eggs or whatever, it was Tom. This was only Voldemort's fault, and if you even think of interrogating Percy like a prisoner or a culprit, you will have to deal with me. He's my friend, and this is my one and only warning, I swear to the gods!"

Her voice climbed through the little speech, reaching an ear-shattering pitch by the end of it. Her eyes were practically glowing, a vicious green scorching into Snape's bloodless face.

 _My friend_. Percy felt some of the cold leave him. He was her friend again.

Rachel dropped Snape back into his chair and stomped back to her own, falling into it. She folded her arms, directing a nasty glare at everyone as though they wanted to disagree with her.

She was exuding the same intense, 100% done, angry energy as Harry would if it had been him sitting in her place. Percy wasn't sure if Harry would have bodily threatened Snape, but eh, anything was possible.

Any doubts that people had about Rachel Elizabeth Dare being Rosalie Potter, was gone. Looks were one thing, similar anger expressions were another.

Sirius sported a well-disguised solemn look as he turned to Snape and said, "Best you sit down and shut up for the rest of today. If someone else can speak without condescending anyone…"

Albus Dumbledore turned towards Rachel. "May I see your bracelet, dear?"

Rachel swallowed, some of her bravado leaving her. Percy gave her a sympathetic look and she pressed her lips together, sitting up and pulling her left arm out of the jacket sleeve. She raised the short sleeve of her t-shirt and displayed the dark bronze jewellery to everyone. Percy observed that, like his and Harry's, her new bracelet was fit to her bicep, with twelve small charms dangling from the band. Each charm had the same carvings as his did. The sight of it made Percy want to grit his teeth. Never in a hundred years would he have guessed Rachel facing the same burdens as he or Harry did.

"You said you can't remember how exactly it appeared on your arm?"

"Yes." Rachel narrowed her eyes. "I said that sentence exactly. Are you prompting me?"

Dumbledore didn't look offended. "I apologize. I am clearing this up. The bracelet appeared when you were in mortal danger."

"Yeah."

He sat back, nodding slowly. Percy didn't dare look at Sally. Only a handful of them knew exactly from where the bracelet came.

Bill suddenly raised his hands. "Wait, let's get back to the bank heist. Tom Imperiused Stan Shunpike, made him drink Polyjuice potion that he'd stolen from Crouch Jr. who'd been disguised as Mad-Eye. The potion had Lestrange's hair. Tom put a disillusionment charm on you. So that's how you got into the tunnels. And then the alarm sounds, you knock out the goblin, steal the goblet, made Shunpike drink another vial of potion with Minister Fudge's hair and that's how you escaped without question. Did I get that right?"

Percy closed his eyes. "That was the plan. But I told you, when I knocked out Stan before that, I found out that Tom had… he'd thought about killing Harry. I freaked, tried to fight, and then I don't remember anything else. I woke up in the river."

He heard Fleur let out a sad exhale. "We saw you. We saw the Minister… but no one stopped 'im, of course."

He felt that shudder again, running deep into his bones. Sally's grip on his wrist helped, but Percy still felt very breakable.

"Percy?" Kingsley called again. "Do you have any idea where Tom may have hid the horcruxes?"

Eyes still shut, Percy searched his memories, trying to recall if Tom had ever mentioned suitable hiding places. Nothing came to mind. He had so many blank spots in his memories, it felt like a fragile piece of fabric fixed together with scotch tape.

He shook his head. "I dunno. I'm trying to think, I just can't remember if he'd ever talked about something like that. He talked a lot. I know the locket's with him. Everything else was in a moleskin pouch but Harry destroyed that before he sent the map and the diary away… I don't know. It might be with him, but he'd also not want to risk having all four pieces with me, in case his other forms tried to manifest, too."

Everyone at the table seemed to freeze at the thought of another Tom Riddle, insane and power-hungry. Percy turned his palm up to hold his mom's sweaty fingers.

Somewhere in the recess of his mind, Percy knew that he was freaking out. When Dumbledore explained what a horcrux was, what the locket really was, Percy had been outwardly blank. He could feel the pressure building up behind his eyebrows, a growing migraine that would never fade away.

That pain might have come free along with the sharp oval shaped mark on the skin of his chest. The redness of it had calmed since the river had mostly healed him, but it would still scar. He'd already had two ambrosia squares and the mark remained.

He deserved it. He deserved that reminder. After everything he'd done –

"Percy, can you tell me how many people Tom targeted?" Dumbledore's question made him flinch. The names appeared in his head and he couldn't turn away from that.

With a deep breath, Percy started his list. "Gabe, Crouch Jr., …"

He told them names that weren't premeditated either. The mention of Fawkes made the twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes blink out. He included the victims from the Knight Bus and the Hogwarts Express, too.

"You spared Lestrange." An Auror named Vance pointed out.

"I thought you might be able to find out what was going on from her. She saw both our faces." Percy hedged.

Vance grimaced. "Sorry. The Legilemency You-Know-Who had performed on her was too powerful. We couldn't get much."

Percy figured that. He'd waited hours in the hopes that someone would find out but when it was clear that nobody knew anything.

"What about Rita Skeeter?" Sirius asked.

"Who?" Percy muttered, not thinking. Then he frowned. "Skeeter? I don't know about that. I killed her too?"

"Tom killed her." Sally corrected.

"Oh. I didn't know." His heart sank. What if he'd attacked more people than he knew? What if everything he was aware of was just an illusion, ready to break at a moment's notice.

"It wasn't Tom." Dumbledore said. He ran his fingers done his beard. "That is not his M.O."

Percy looked up, hopeful. "How'd she die?"

"She was hanged."

He gave a huff. "Yeah. No way. Tom never liked getting his hands wouldn't do something like that unless the rope was magical."

"It wasn't."

"Then it couldn't be him." Percy said, simply. The sentence alone lifted a huge amount of weight.

Then that weight crashed down upon him. "Wait, who killed her?"

The rest of the Order looked at each other. They seemed taken aback as well.

"We figure is was a copy-cat." Kingsley said.

"Someone was copying… me?"

"Someone was copying Tom." Rachel said, shooting Percy a look.

Molly tap the table with his nails. Her face had gone red from frustration. "I think that's enough. We have a lot to discuss. May be you children can join the others upstairs?"

A few of them frowned at her, but Sirius nodded. "Yes, up you go. Percy knows where."

Rachel leaned forwards. "Um… Sirius. I sort of disappeared from my school in New York. I pretty sure my parents will be looking for me if my Coach notified them."

Sirius sighed. "I'm sorry, Rachel. We need to plan something out right now. Can you wait a few hours?"

"I can take the floo by myself."

"You can't. The city's shut down."

"I can take her." Percy muttered.

Sally sat straight, fixing him with a stern look, not necessarily angry. "Sorry, Percy. You're not going anywhere for a few days. Same goes for Nico."

He sighed, figuring she'd ground him.

"A couple of hours, Rachel." Sirius promised her. "I'll smooth it out. You don't have to worry."

She hesitated for a moment before nodding. Percy followed her out of the kitchen, shutting the door behind them. They stood there for a moment, breathing in the cold and dusty silence of the hall.

"You…you can't take this bracelet off of you, can you?" Rachel whispered, staring right ahead towards the staircase.

Percy winced. "No. Sorry."

He could feel her exhaustion, radiating like an aura. He knew that if they sat on the hard wooden floor, the both of them would easily fall asleep.

A small jiggling noise distracted him. Percy looked to his right and spotted a long and thin fleshy sort of wire, dangling from above. The end of it was placed right underneath the hinge of the kitchen door.

He frowned at it and then followed its length, raising his eyes to look up to the third floor where the rest of the teens were perched, leaning against the banister to stare down at them.

Fred made a 'come up' gesture and Percy nudged Rachel's elbow. They climbed the stairs to join the others.

Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville, DJ, Nico, Fred, and George greeted them. They had very different expressions, ranging from hesitance to downright anger.

"Um…" Ron started, "You hungry?"

Rachel shrugged and he jogged into one of the rooms to get a box of chocolate frogs. Everyone took a piece and they sat on the floor and the steps to munch on the snacks. Rachel gave a sudden giggle when the frog wriggled in her hand.

"Is it a real frog? Like… a live chocolate thingy?"

" 'S just a charm."

Percy felt a little nauseous munching on the head of his frog. He wasn't sure when the last time was that he'd eaten. Tom wouldn't have bothered with inane activities like that. He'd drank a gallon of the river water, which was nothing like the Hudson so that was a blessing.

The frog head kept wriggling in his mouth. He coughed, spitting it out into his palm and then getting up to run into the closest room. He headed straight for the bathroom, bending over the basin to throw up.

Someone clapped their hands over his ears. The noise wasn't completely filtered out, but the house wasn't loud to begin with.

"Go on." One of them said. "I'll stay with him."

The low murmuring disappeared as someone closed the door. Percy waited for a bit feeling bile rise again. He vomited till the dry heaving began.

After a minute, Percy splashed his face with water, trying to revel in its coolness. A hand towel was offered to him. His entire chest burned with the intense exercise his muscles had gone through. His jaw ached and his throat felt sore. He coughed and spat out, trying to gargle the taste away.

Breathing heavily, Percy pushed back to lean against the wall. DJ watched him carefully.

"D'you want to sit down?" He asked. Percy closed his eyes. His legs were shaking as though freezing needles were being inserted at every point.

He nodded and DJ helped him shuffle out of the bathroom and towards the first bed in sight. Percy nearly fell on it, immediately placing his head on the pillow and curling to his side.

"I'll get you water, 'kay?" DJ muttered, leaving his sight for a bit and returning almost instantly with a glass of cool water. Percy took a sip and decided not to aggravate his stomach anymore.

"You think you can sleep?" DJ whispered.

Percy looked at the floor behind him. It was familiar. Of course it was familiar. This was their room. Percy and DJ had shared this room for a couple of weeks during the summer. He could still see the stiff duct tape on the floor, peeling away in places but mostly holding still. DJ had put the tape to divide the room into equal halves.

"Percy?"

" M'fine." He muttered. Did he slur? It felt like it. His eyelids were heavy, threatening to close.

DJ stared. He looked troubled. Percy watched the worry battle with disguised anger in the blue of his eyes.

"She knew." He said to himself. Percy frowned. "Hmm?"

"Nothing… it's just… at the hospital. That girl, Evey. She knew you weren't… you."

Percy didn't respond. DJ seemed to be having an internal crisis. The wizard reached down to pulled out a small piece of paper from his pocket.

"She meant to give this to you." DJ said, offering Percy the paper.

Percy stared at the writing on it. Either his dyslexia was working overtime, or that wasn't English at all.

"I don't know what language it is. But it's not Latin or Ancient Greek, right? Anyway, she wanted to give this to you, so…"

Percy didn't move. DJ waited before pushing the piece of paper into Percy's pocket. "You can look at it later, I suppose."

They didn't say anything for a bit. Percy could see the guilt in his face. DJ slowly sat on the floor, facing him.

"I should have known." He said. His eyes were downcast, like he couldn't bear to look at Percy. "I should have seen that something was wrong."

Percy watched his struggle.

"Again, it happened again. I didn't catch it when Ginny went through it and I missed it with you." DJ let out a shaky breath like he was going to cry. "I'm a horrible friend."

The burn in Percy's eyes had less to do with tiredness now.

DJ sniffled, eyes swimming in tears. He rubbed them away harshly. "I'm sorry. I was so angry with you every time you did something out of character that I didn't even stop to check…"

Percy reached out to catch DJ's hand. He placed it on the bed, fingers holding him tight. DJ stared down, like he couldn't understand. A few minutes of silence helped Percy to drift a bit, feeling better now that DJ had stopped the self-loathing.

"Are you cold?" DJ asked carefully, after a while. Percy had to think. He had cold shivers running through his body, but that were better than feeling hot and sweaty. He shook his head.

"You want me to leave?"

The answer to that was easy. It felt like it'd been months since Percy was truly himself, even if he was beat down and bone-tired.

"No."

* * *

Rachel finished her frog and gladly accepted another as Ron offered her once more. She knew that they were all trying not to stare at her, probably recognizing the startling similarities between Harry and her. She was grateful for their tact.

"So… you can do magic?" One of the twins asked. While the Order meeting was still on-going and they were listening in on it as the members debated on what kind of statement to be released about the monster that attacked the bridge, Rachel knew that the others would also want to ask her a lot of things.

"I guess so. I mean… it's the bracelet. Not me."

Hermione sat up, morbidly curious. "Can we see it?"

Rachel had a feeling a lot of people would want to see it. How the hell was she supposed to hide this from her parents? Or from her peers at school? Was she supposed to wear long sleeves forever?

She raised her sleeve and showed them the bronze band.

"Wicked." Ron muttered. Ginny was unusually quiet. She was listening to the Order meeting intently. Rachel's eyes kept drifting towards her.

"Nico said you actually went toe-to-toe with the scorpion." Hermione muttered.

Rachel thought back to that moment. It was almost as if she wasn't herself. As if the amount of new power that flooded her system changed her into someone else, someone daring and courageous, someone who could charge at the towering monster without feeling a smidge of fear.

"Yeah… I'm going to have severe nightmares about that."

Nico nodded silently. He'd finished his frog and was sitting next to Ginny, opting to stare at the stairs.

She observed them carefully. These people would have been her friends had she been a witch. Rachel had spent months imagining that, ever since she'd met Harry.

And now she did have some kind of power. Super strength was obvious, it was the same as Harry and DJ's. What else? She didn't know. Would she have to find out. Could she find out?

"How are your friends?" She asked. Some of them seemed startled.

"Um…" Hermione muttered. "It was a rush. I didn't see anyone else other than the second years when they moved us to St. Mungo's."

"Right." Neville said, speaking up for the first time. "Seamus nearly got bit, but Dean managed to drop a trunk on the spider… they're okay, I guess."

Ron patted Neville's shoulder, both boys breathing out in relief.

The twins turned back to the fleshy little ear and Ginny suddenly stood up, getting everyone's attention.

"Rachel. Can we talk for a bit?"

Rachel looked up at her, stunned. She wanted to talk. That should have seemed like a normal request, but it felt very nerve wracking.

"Su… sure." She squeaked, getting to her feet. She nearly squeezed the remains of her chocolate frog.

Ginny led her into the second bedroom. Rachel was taken aback by the posters in the room, adorning an entire wall. They were bright orange, blinding, showcasing images of people in long robes, zipping from left to right.

They were flying, Rachel realized, staring at the posters in awe. The figures on the papers were moving.

"I have a few questions for you." Ginny mumbled, staring at the ground. The frown on her face was so intense Rachel was surprised that nothing was on fire.

"Shoot."

Ginny winced. She walked towards the window, inhaled, and said, "Do you remember when exactly Percy started acting odd?"

Rachel's heart fell. They were talking about _that_.

"There's no definite date… He was brazen for a few weeks, a little dismissive of people. He didn't really make friends at school, I thought that was a strategy because he'd have to leave for camp a lot… I don't know, he just started getting angrier over the semester."

"He started pulling away." Ginny nodded.

He pushed her away. Rachel recalled numerous times when Percy outright stated he didn't want her around. She always felt like he was particularly harsh at her. But had he been like that with everyone?

"Yeah. Sometimes, Percy'd be fine. Then he'd snap back. I didn't think there was anything wrong, though. I didn't check. I just got angry at him and we argued a lot."

Ginny knotted her fingers together, bringing them up to press against her cheek. "He said that he found the locket in the house. This house. That means we were all here when he first got in contact with Tom."

It was in her voice that Rachel heard a tremour. Not just her expression when Ginny said 'Tom', but the slightest of breaks in her tone. There was an awful familiarity there.

Rachel knew why. Bolt had told her this story – about the diary, the basilisk, and petrification.

Oh.

"You think it was your responsibility?" She asked. Ginny clenched her jaw.

"I should have known."

"This is nobody's fault except for _him_!" Rachel said earnestly, but Ginny suddenly raised her head to fix her with a glare so vicious that Rachel almost felt her bracelet itch.

" _People are dead!_ " Ginny hissed. She curled her fists and they grew bright from the pressure. The room suddenly felt hotter. "You heard Tonks. 27 dead, nearly 50 bitten!"

"I heard!" Rachel's voice quivered. "I know! But it's not your fault, it's _his!_ "

"If I'd noticed –"

"If anyone noticed, that would have been great. But we didn't, because we all have our own shot to deal with! You guys have your threats with the actual Voldemort. All the campers have to deal with the Titans for next year's showdown and my own fuckery just blindsided all of us!" Rachel snapped. "But it's not our fault. You wanna be angry at someone, you wanna blame someone, blame Voldemort. Because he deserves none of our doubts or confusion."

Ginny shut her eyes and Rachel was terrified that she was about to cry. She stepped forwards, "Hey. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell –"

"Don't!" Ginny backed away, holding her hands out. "I'll just hurt you again."

Rachel looked down at the bandage on her arm. She remember the burn of Ginny's magic, sizzling her skin.

Ginny was terrified. The anger and stoicism was a front.

Rachel took one solid step towards her. "I just got this cool new bracelet, you know? I'm not afraid of you, Gin."

May be it was her imagination but Ginny's lips quirked upwards for a moment. Then she looked somber again.

"I could still hurt you."

There was something so sincere in those words that tugged at Rachel's chest. She felt as though her lungs expanded, letting her breathe in more deeply. Like she could take in all the scents in the room and the only thing that was of any value was the smoky flowery smell of Ginny's hair.

Rachel leaned forwards, reaching out to take Ginny's hand, keeping the grip as loose as possible, signaling that Ginny could withdraw at any moment.

The witch stared as though Rachel had performed a daredevil feat. Like taking on a scorpion monster.

Honestly, she was sure that both girls had enough of eight legged creatures for the day.

"You won't hurt anyone." Rachel said, pressing her thumb to the top of Ginny's knuckles. "You're careful. You've been careful for a long time. You're strong, Gin. That's pretty awesome of you."

Amusement filled her expression. She gave Rachel a soft tilt of the head. "It's pretty bold of you."

Rachel shrugged, not looking away. "I'm a bold girl."

The uncomfortable tension in the room gave way to something sweeter. It made her heart thud to see Ginny fix her with an intense turn of her eyebrow, before stepping forwards, fingers interlocking.

"You're more than bold." Ginny told her. "You're amazing. That's actually the other thing I wanted to ask you."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. That night at the party, did you honestly just forget about the disguise?"

Rachel swallowed, smile fading. "I didn't forget. I wanted to tell you, but I didn't want you to know that I wasn't a demigod… or a witch."

Ginny looked a little disappointed. Rachel felt her lungs shrinking, making her feel breathless at the rejection –

"It wouldn't have mattered."

Rachel blinked. "What?"

"It…" Ginny hesitated. "It doesn't matter. I really like you. When we were on the terrace, and we were talking about a hundred different things. All I could think about was how someone like you actually wanted to spend all that time with me."

Rachel blanched. "Are you kidding me? You were literally the most cutest person at that party!"

Ginny huffed, "'Most cutest' is wrong."

"What, you're a nerd now?" She teased. Ginny just raised an eyebrow and stepped closer to her. The joking mood vanished abruptly.

"I thought you were hot." Ginny told her, with no qualms.

Rachel swallowed.

 _Oh my gods, oh my gods, oh my gods. Be cool, girl!_

Rachel cleared her throat. " 'Were'? I'll have you know that when I'm not in the business of fighting larger-than-life monsters, I happen to look _stunning,_ all the time."

Ginny nearly laughed at that. Then she clapped a hand over her mouth, looking horrified.

"Shit! This is such a bad time to… do this."

Rachel stared, reality hitting her as it must have hit Ginny.

People had died today in three separate attacks. Kids had been traumatized. Rachel just gained a super power, and here she was flirting with a crush. They could literally have talked any other day. Any other day, where Ginny had no reminders of her horrific first year, any other day when their friend hadn't been _possessed_ for months.

"R…right. Sorry… I wasn't thinking…"

Ginny's unreadable expression made Rachel feel like she had crossed a line. She let go of her hand and move away.

Ready to apologize again, Rachel was taken completely off guard when Ginny surged forwards, her face filled with glowing determination. She held her face with hot fingers and pressed her lips against Rachel's.

It was so far off left field that Rachel may have squeaked. But she held onto Ginny's shoulders when she realized that the witch was standing on her toes to reach her face…

Oh, that was adorable.

And kinda hot.

Rachel barely remembered to close her eyes when Ginny pulled back. It hadn't been so much of a kiss, other than just simple pressure of two pairs of lips.

"Um… if it's okay with you…" Ginny mumbled.

With an exhale, Rachel giggled, leaning forwards to kiss her this time, feeling the heat raise from Ginny's form as though she really was the embodiment of fire. There was something visceral in the concept of simply being in the presence of someone as brilliant and beautiful as her. Rachel turned her head, letting their noses slide, kissing Ginny at an angle, which worked better. It worked very well.

* * *

 _Monday, Dec 3; 8:00 p.m.  
Grimmauld Place, London_

Sally pressed a palm against her stomach, feeling a barrier press back. Her belly felt a little taut, a little tense too. She wasn't sure if it was the womb or her constant state of worry that gave her that feeling.

She was more than a month along, not showing, but definitely very wary and careful about moving in anyway. That hadn't hindered her when they'd been on the bridge though. She remembered running for her life when she'd gone with Sirius to search for the kids.

Gods, was that only a few hours ago?

Sally was drained. She sat in for the meeting, listening to all the reports, figuring out what kind of panic was taking over the city, the entire country, even. St. Mungo's nearly hit code black, a level of necessary precautions, extra measures and such. Many other smaller clinics around the area had reached out to take on as many patients as they could. Most of the severe cases were still in the Rothbury hospital, and it sickened Sally to know that there were children who'd been attacked, who'd been hurt, who had lost their lives, all for the sake of a massive distraction.

Tom's strategic move to divert help and resources at such a chaotic stage had been a vital part of his 'break-into-Gringotts-to-steal-an-ancient-goblet-where-he'd-hidden-a-piece-of-his-soul' plan.

The worst part of the entire operation was that he'd mind-controlled Percy to accomplish it all.

Sally felt the nausea bubble up again. She closed her eyes and waited.

Her stomach settled slowly, making her feel worse.

She was standing outside Percy and DJ's room on the third floor, peering in. The boys had fallen asleep. Percy was stretched on DJ's bed, clearly exhausted, but in deep sleep. DJ was sitting on the floor, leaning against the mattress, also tired enough to nap.

Sally had been worried that Percy would want to hide away and beat himself up over everything that'd happened. She was glad that he wasn't alone.

Aside from Rita Skeeter, the other mysterious killings were now connected to Tom, the mysterious pseudo version of Voldemort. The discovery of that news came at a heavy price, when one considered how much damage had occurred through the entire day. Sirius rightly predicted the outrage that was sure to explode at the Ministry by angry parents all through the country.

On top of the storm that was about to descend, the truth about Rachel was now becoming public knowledge through rumours and gossips. Sally was only thankful that the girl wouldn't actually have to witness it. Sirius had gotten Dumbledore to temporarily lift the restrictions around the city so that he could drop her off at her home, and deviate any suspicion about where she'd disappeared off to for the better part of the day.

Alice and Frank were unable to come into the safe-house since they were still in Scotland, closer to the castle. Neville had written them two letters already, assuring that he was fine and completely unharmed. Sally could still tell that he missed them. Hopefully, if all the security measures were on track to being upgraded as civilian pressure demanded, they might remove the city restrictions soon.

Sally had a weak dinner and an uneasy sleep. Percy had skipped the meal altogether, opting to spend the entire night in a practically comatose state. That had soothed her nerves, knowing that her baby was finally getting some blessed relief.

She woke up at just past six in the morning, London time. The house was silent, not even a creak of old floorboards to suggest there was someone up and about. Sally breathed in the cold, quiet air, realizing that she'd woken up because Sirius' side of the bed was empty.

Sally gave a sigh, memories of the previous day slowly coming back to her, reminding her that their lives were actually quite screwed. She closed her eyes, tried to go back to sleep, but awareness seeped in quickly.

May be Sirius was meeting with someone. May be there was more news. May be they'd caught Tom?

Sally reached for her robe, slipping out of bed and leaving the room. The house was quiet. Of course it was. Aside from Molly and Arthur, the other Order members had left, leaving behind the children, all of whom were no doubt, exhausted after yesterday's events. She made her way to the dusty hall, and nearly choked on her saliva.

Sirius had stuck his head into green flames in the hearth. He was on a floo call. It wasn't the first time she'd seen him do this, but it was just as funny as before. Sally took a moment to admire his assets that stuck out as he bent down to reach the fire place. She walked around the sofa to sit on it, propping her feet up on an adorned footstool.

After a few minutes, the flames died down just as Sirius pulled his head out, kneeling up with a groan. His face was covered in soot. He jumped when he spotted Sally.

"Merlin! Woman!" He nearly shouted, clutching his heart.

Sally grinned. "Hi there, man."

Sirius took out his wand and tapped his face. The soot cleared out, leaving tiny smudges around the cheeks. "What were you doing, skulking around?"

She raised an eyebrow, feeling catty. "Admiring the view."

Sirius stood up and paused. He nodded, sticking his nose in the air. "Well, I hope you know that you and Moony are the only ones who have the honour of such a view."

Sally laughed. Something about him told her that he wasn't as stressed as he was the day before.

"So… who was on the call?"

Sirius blinked like he'd forgotten. Then he flew to her side, on his knees, holding her hand delicately with both of his. She wondered if he was going to propose and then wondered what she would respond.

"That was Sierra." He said, carefully communicating with his eyes as well. She could see the hope blooming. "She said the bracelet healed Harry. Completely."

Sally sat up. "Gods, Sirius! That's great!"

She threw her arms around him and he accepted her hug, holding her tight. "Is he out? Are they gonna discharge him?"

"… no." He replied after a pause. He pulled back and Sally frowned.

"He's… Sierra said she put him under observation after the healing was done. But he hasn't woken up."

Sally felt gravity take over, feeling like her entire body was heavier than before. "But… if the bracelet –"

"She said it happened in seconds." Sirius sat next to her on the sofa, still holding her hand. "Tonks stayed back in the hospital to help monitor any changes, but he didn't wake up. All his injuries are gone, though."

She gripped his arms, trying to revel in the good part, trying to be thankful that _something_ happened, rather than nothing at all.

"He'll wake up soon, then." She said, trying to be optimistic. "It's okay, Sirius. We just have to wait, we can do that."

"She gave the time when the healing process began." Sirius said, and she heard the brooding voice behind the words. "It was 6:29. That's what she said. Do you know what we were doing half past six?"

Sally frowned, thinking back to the mess of worried thoughts of yesterday. "We reached the house right at 7, I think. We… we were on the bridge…"

Sally leaned back, recognizing Sirius' solemn silence. He was thinking about another bracelet that had activated itself by choosing a new host, meaning Rachel.

"Right." She said, faintly, leaning against the arm of the sofa. "Rachel's involvement –"

"Must have boosted his bracelet." Sirius agreed. "That's probably what happened with Percy too. He said he woke up in the river. No mention of how he got there. Voldemort would never have risked him coming in contact with water if it gave him enough strength to break free. Which means whatever happened with Rachel was enough to snap both boys out of their… fugue states…?"

He ended with a question mark, clearly still hedging his own theory. "I mean, there can't be any other reason. That bracelet was on Percy's arm the whole time and it did _nothing_ to get rid of the locket!"

He scrutinised her. "You're sure you have no idea about the thing? About how it works?"

Sally shook her head. "I woke up with it on my arm, more than ten years ago. Sirius, if I knew anything, wouldn't I tell you?"

The blatant lie misled her boyfriend. The deception sat like a sunken stone in her stomach, right next to the miniscule foetus.

Baby? Could she start calling it that? Screw it.

The deliberate lie felt like an unbreathable and burdened weight in her, right beside their baby.

Nothing like the truth to strike one's heart with shame.

Sally placed her arm on the backrest and touched his scruffy cheek with her palm. "We know what's going on now. Percy's here, and he's safe. Harry's going to wake up soon, I can feel it! We just have to wait. We can do that."

Sirius swallowed with a resigned expression. "We need to find Voldemort. Not the real one, the spirit one. The horcrux. Bastardised his own soul, who does that?"

Sally grimaced, thinking back to when Dumbledore had explained it to them, trying to make sense of Percy's story and bringing up a connection to Ginny's first year and her encounter with Tom Riddle's diary.

"Any leads to catching him?"

"Not yet. According to Percy, he's wants to find all the pieces of Voldemort. He already has four, with the diary destroyed, that's five. But Dumbledore thinks there may be seven. So, Tommy's out searching for the rest."

Sally tried to relax at that statement. It made her feel that the horcrux would be too busy to come back and bother them.

"That's good, that could be good?"

Whatever joy Sirius have been lounging in after the floo call must have dissipated because he said, "With three other active horcruxes, he can find more people to control. Dumbledore is sure he wouldn't do that, seeing as how Percy said 'Tom' disagreed vehemently with Voldemort. If he can't get along with himself, he wouldn't want more versions to be running around."

"But he might go for one person?"

"That's how he drew power to perform magic." Sirius explained. "Voldemort's core magic is the ability to heal. Cosmic irony aside, he can heal himself from severe injuries as long as he can focus and harness his core to do so. Born healers are very rare, and it's this added ability that's letting him feed on a host's aura. That's how the horcurx sustains itself."

Sally frowned. "How'd you know so much? Dumbledore said there isn't much information about that."

Sirius sighed. "Remember that lovely little part of the library that my parents happily installed behind the office? It has three volumes about blood magic and soul magic. It's a fast read. I flipped through the pages and nearly lost my sanity. What's left of it, anyway."

Sally squeezed his hand, sitting closer to wrap an arm around Sirius.

"It has a lot of details about creating and even destroying horcruxes. That part was useful. Basilisk's venom is a definite way. There was something about a banshee's scream that might work, and even a spell that I will not even attempt in a thousand years, because if it misfires it can blow up the entire neighbourhood, I'm not kidding."

Sirius yawned, pausing for a bit. Sally let him rest his head on her shoulder.

"He… Tom can't come back here, right?" She asked, slowly.

Sirius closed his eyes. "He can't. He used Percy's magic to flit through all wards. Plus, the secret keeper hasn't given Tom the address, personally. So, he can't get back in."

She sighed, settling into the sofa, feeling the weight in her stomach lessen. She reached down to press against her belly, feeling the tense skin.

May be it was the womb. The sentiment felt good. It was a breath of fresh air to feel something _good_ amidst all the negativity.

Hugging Sirius around his shoulders, Sally asked, "Did you sleep last night?"

"Hmm? Hmm."

"Go to sleep, hon. I'll wake you."

Until the newspaper came with the recap of yesterday's nightmare, until the Order came back for another meeting, until Tom reappeared to strike again, Sally wanted to slip into the delusion that the world was safe. As unhealthy it was, she needed it. Everything was going to be fine.

* * *

 **Stay tuned, folks. No question this time, I'm letting you all free into the wild…**

 **Cabba.**


	54. The Right Question

**Lady among the trees: Your breath of fresh air is running out… enjoy!**

 **Note: I had to rewrite this chapter twice because I just didn't like the previous drafts. I didn't want to update a half-hazard piece of work, so… it's late.**

 **Warning: Some swearing,**

 **Listening to:** _ **The Boogie**_ **by Outasight**

* * *

 _Wednesday, Dec 5; 3:30 p.m.  
Grimmauld Place, London_

DJ saw the past couple of days as an exercise in trying to move forward. The key word was 'trying'.

Percy was unnaturally quiet, opting to stay out of sight as much as he could. He'd either show up early or late for meals, conveniently missing the crowd. He stayed out of the hall or even the corridors, preferring to brood in his room, or any other empty place.

DJ couldn't ignore that. He went up to Percy every time the demigod tried to push them all away. Whether it involved him just sitting in the same room in silence, or doing his best to convince Percy to join him in cleaning up the house, DJ always tried.

Percy would answer in short sentences, sometimes giving singular word responses.

"Hey, Perce! Wanna go to the library with me? Check out some of the cool stuff?"

"No."

"Okay, how 'bout we set the table for high tea? My aunt's coming today… not that they're gonna eat with us… they don't eat food…"

"Fred and George already did that."

"Cool, cool! Hey, shall we clean the bathrooms? Come on, that'll be fun, eh?!"

"… may be later."

That wasn't a no! DJ almost cheered before realizing that Percy might not be as excited as he was to clean bathrooms.

Right now, the boys were in their room, sitting on their respective beds. DJ had spent the morning with Ginny, eavesdropping on a conversation between Mr. Weasley and one of the Order members. Sirius had gone to the Ministry to sort something out… sort out the world's problems, it had sounded like. Because there were a lot of problems in the management when it came to the hospital situation, and not only that…

Harry had healed but wasn't awake yet.

It should have been soul-lifting news but DJ couldn't help but feel annoyed that Sirius hadn't shared it with him yet. Did he still not want DJ to go see Harry? It had been days, DJ hated being cooped in the dreary house, even if it was teeming with people.

DJ looked up from the newspaper that he'd been reading. It was nothing that illuminating, just a thousand word article about all the speculation behind the appearance of Rosalie Potter. The publishing had such fanfare, it nearly eclipsed the segment on yesterday's paper that was about 'The London Attacks'.

"Hey, Percy."

Percy had been facing the wall, holding a mirror in front of him. At first, when he'd asked to borrow it from DJ, the wizard had been hopeful that he'd call someone and talk to them. But Percy had done nothing with it, apparently preferring to sit and stare at the two-way mirror.

At DJ's call, Percy turned his head to indicate he was listening.

"Did you talk to Annabeth?"

The slight stiffening of his shoulders gave DJ the answer.

"She called yesterday. And the day before that. I told her that things've been pretty tense here. But I think she'd rather hear any answer from you."

Percy didn't move, still staring at his reflection.

DJ frowned. "She won't hate you. She's worried, Percy. Even if you don't tell her what's going on, I think Annabeth'll want to hear from you."

Percy didn't answer. DJ tried again, sitting up this time.

"Did you talk to Nico today? He's been a little down. I mean, we know you're not ignoring any of us, but may be just say 'hi' or something to him…"

Nico had taken it the hardest. Percy's refusal to engage with anybody hurt his cousin quite visibly. If DJ hadn't known that Percy was suffering as well, he'd have outright yelled at him. It wasn't easy to watch Nico stare at Percy longingly.

"It's not me." Percy said. DJ sat up straight.

"Huh?"

Percy tilted his head, looking over his back. His eyes were trained on the floor.

"Nico left his Mythomagic cards at school. That's why he's jittery."

DJ nearly tossed the newspaper into the air. Percy knew damn well that wasn't the problem. DJ knew that he knew.

And Percy knew that DJ knew that he knew.

"Percy." DJ said carefully. "Did you talk to Nico?"

The silence stretched again. Skin prickling, DJ waited as Percy took his time in answer.

"No…"

"That's all he wants." He whispered, wishing Percy would see that. "That's all anyone of us want."

Percy inhaled, suddenly looking ready to leap out of bed. He did a 180 and faced DJ from across the room.

"Would it make you feel better if I talked you and pretended everything was normal?"

He wasn't shouting. There was no hint of anger or hurt in his voice. Percy eyes seemed static, like the oceans had frozen over, leaving behind stagnant ice.

DJ hated that voice. It was emotionless as though Percy had succeeded in bottling up everything in him.

"It's not normal." DJ answered, trying to calm himself. "We know that. No one has to be normal. We just… we're here, Percy. Just… just see that, please."

Aside from the miniscule narrowing of his eyebrows, Percy didn't react. He watched as DJ stared right back.

DJ blinked. Then he stood up, tossing the paper aside. "I'm going down. Say hi to Annabeth for me."

He left the room, not looking back, praying that Percy would call her, would let something out, because someone in his position ought to be screaming in horror at everything that had been done to him.

The Weasleys were in the hall, playing Exploding Snap, probably trying to see if it could wake up the portraits. Since Sirius hadn't stopped them, DJ wagered that the noise could be heard in the front corridor. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley weren't with their kids. DJ found Neville sitting beside Hermione. The both of them were seated on opposite sides of Neville's cactus like plant, having placed it in a tiny conjured bubble charm.

Nico wasn't with them. DJ frowned, wondering if he'd wandered off in the house by himself.

There was a click of chunky heels behind him and DJ grinned, recognizing who it was.

He turned around and spotted his aunt, Rosalie Hale, clad in denim jacket, hair in perfect curls tumbling down her shoulders. She gave him a wide grin, extending her cold arms to embrace him tightly.

"I've missed you!" He nearly cried from relief. It was months since they'd seen each other. She was his last connection to his mother, but even more than that, she was family.

"I have missed to you, too!" Rosalie said, her voice high yet soft, beautiful like music. "Look at that, you're nearly my height!"

She placed a hand on the top of his head, smirking down at him. DJ huffed.

"You're wearing boots!"

She simply smiled, kissing him on the cheek. "Good catch. You're growing so fast, DJ."

Rosalie led him into the kitchen where her husband, Emmett, and Remus Lupin sat at the table, right beside Mr. Weasley.

DJ stopped by the door, frozen at the sight of Remus. No way…

"Moony?"

Remus looked bone tired. His robes were worn, hanging off his thin and skinny frame. He seemed like he'd suffered starvation to get back home. But the moment he heard DJ's voice, he turned around in his chair and stood up, a bright smile lighting up his face.

"Oh my gods!" DJ ran in, throwing his arms over the man's shoulder. He clutched him tight, feeling the teeming weight in his chest lessen by a substantial bit. Remus was back!

"When did you get here?! How did you… I mean…" DJ babbled, not daring to let him go.

"I think you're squeezing him to death, DJ." Emmett piped up.

Rosalie's hand touched DJ's arm and he let go of Remus, who only grinned.

"I needed that." Remus said. DJ couldn't stop smiling.

"When did you get back?"

"This morning. And don't even bother asking me about everything. I've already spoken to Albus, the Order, and Sirius, separately."

Remus let out a breath, clapping a hand on DJ's shoulder. "You've grown."

"I'm taller than Ginny, now." DJ explained. It was a substantial difference, especially since Ginny was the shortest in their year.

Remus nodded and sat down again, as if it was too taxing on him to stand for too long. DJ sat beside him.

"You went to the castle, didn't you?"

Remus turned to look at Mr. Weasley for a second. "Yes. Just checked in there, first. I was supposed to meet Rosalie anyway, so it worked out."

"You guys finish the castle search?"

Dumbledore had sort of hired the Cullens to check the castle and grounds' security, combing through every yard with a precision a human could never achieve. DJ knew that it was exactly the sort of thing the minister would never allow, but the headmaster was clear on his instructions. Plus, Umbridge would have been super annoyed by the whole thing which was a bonus.

"Yup. I'd say it was all clear, but the last time we thought the security was locked, someone still managed to break in." Emmett threw out.

Mrs. Weasley sat across the table, tapping his fingers on the wood. "Discounting Percy, would you say it was safe?"

Rosalie sighed. "It's not as easy, Molly. It doesn't matter how many times anyone reviews the castle, the school will not reopen in January."

DJ held in a flinch. The adults looked sombre and the strain was clearly visible in Remus's face now.

"Is that it, then? Hogwarts is closed forever?"

"Not forever… just until the panic dissipates. Public opinion needs time to change. Just because people don't know that Percy can flit through the wards, doesn't mean they're clueless. The rumour is that Voldemort has found a way to navigate through the defences. There may well be a hearing by the school board about this. It can take months, DJ. Sorry."

Rosalie patted his shoulder but it did nothing to comfort him.

"Long term solution is that you can still enroll in other schools." Mr. Weasley pointed out, setting a tray of cups on the table. DJ noticed that two of the cups had a liquid that was definitely not tea. Emmett picked up the cup, observed it with genuine interest and sipped. He grinned.

"Nice."

"Thank you."

"Another school?" DJ asked, feeling enormously let down.

"Many other private institutes have opened their doors, DJ. They'll take in the students regardless of houses and blood status."

"Sirius won't let me out." DJ muttered, knowing that the man would rather choose homeschooling options.

"That wouldn't be bad." Remus smiled at him. "Some of the teachers are Order members, if we can spare time, they can tutor you."

DJ knew it wouldn't be the same. It was a whole other world to live in Hogwarts, to be privy to the castle's secrets, to roam the grounds, to witness Quidditch matches… Nothing else could compare to that.

"Would you teach DADA?"

Remus winked.

Mr. Weasley slid a cup of tea towards him and DJ smiled. "Thanks."

The tea was good and he sat there for a bit drinking it slowly, letting his thoughts swirl in his head. The adults continued talking about Rachel's outing in the papers and DJ only half heard that.

If other schools were willing to take them in, Colin shouldn't actually have no problem getting back into magical education. He just hadn't wanted to go back to Hogwarts where the disparity was obvious.

May be they could go to Beauxbatons. That was the closest, monumental institution he knew of. Sure Hermione might know more, but Fleur would of course recommend them all for her beloved alma mater.

France would be warmer too, right? If only DJ could convince Sirius to let him go…

He set his empty cup down. It wouldn't be worth it if Colin wasn't with him.

"… a good night's rest, Remus." Mrs. Weasley was telling him. "I'll make soup tomorrow."

"Thanks, Molly. I really do need some shut-eye." Remus muttered before standing up slowly. DJ heard his bones pop. "I'll see you later, DJ."

"Bye." DJ muttered, wishing he could be appropriately happy that Moony was back, but he just felt down again.

"Hey." Rosalie touched his shoulder again, looking concerned. "What's wrong?"

DJ barely noticed when Emmett left the room too, following Mr. Weasley out. Mrs. Weasley shot her a curious look but left as well, when Rosalie nodded at her.

"It's not… nothing. Just… I fought with someone." He breathed out, thinking back to that moment. He remembered the anger during their shouting session. Had they really been yelling? He recalled the furious expression on Colin's face. They'd never been that angry at each other.

"A friend?" Rosalie asked gently.

He nodded. "I felt so cross. He thought I was… I mean, he didn't understand me. He wasn't thinking how I felt about it."

DJ wrapped his hand around the cup, feeling the bare warmth of the ceramic, cooling quickly.

"What was he thinking about?" She asked.

"Just himself. He was thinking about himself… and Dennis." DJ added the last part as an afterthought. "And I was thinking about Harry. We were angry about the same thing, but he couldn't understand how it affected me."

May be it was the way he'd said it, or the way his aunt was watching him, but DJ felt the selfishness in his own words.

"Is it possible that whatever was making the two of you angry also made you take it out on each other?" She pointed out.

DJ leaned away from the table, sitting back on the hard wooden chair.

"We weren't just angry, I was scared. Colin thought I didn't understand, but I did!"

Rosalie placed an elbow on the table, leaning her chin against her palm. "Colin and Dennis. We went with them to the stadium. For that cricket match."

DJ pursed his lips, thinking about that outing over the summer. That had been fun. They'd gone for the match and then for a movie. It'd been a good day.

"Yeah."

"I thought he's your best friend."

"He is! Or was, I dunno."

DJ folded his arms, stubbornly. Rosalie was frowning.

"You don't have to tell me everything, but from what I heard, it seems like neither of you were thinking about the other, because you were worried enough about yourselves. And while that might not be a bad thing in and of itself, it can still lead to a lot of misunderstandings."

Her answer felt vague, but he really didn't want to talk exactly what they'd fought about.

"He said he'd rather live as a muggle than be a wizard with Voldemort around." DJ muttered.

Rosalie kept staring like she was waiting for more.

"So?"

DJ frowned. "What d'you mean 'so'?"

"It sounds like he's scared of Voldemort."

"So am I! But I'd rather be a wizard!"

"DJ, have you thought that the two of you might be different people with different responses to a situation?"

Her sarcasm was sharp. She wasn't joking, instead looking at him like he'd somehow disappointed her.

"We're all in danger!" DJ cried. "We need to be at our strongest to face him, shouldn't we?"

She pressed her lips together, her beautiful face suddenly drawn into sharp lines. "You're not facing him, DJ."

"Well, not now, but sometime in the future."

Rosalie caught his wrist in a gentle but firm hold. He wondered if he could break out of it, but didn't try, because she was levelling a stony look at him.

"Your friend is scared. He's not just thinking about himself, he'd thinking about his family. Dennis is only twelve now, and their parents are muggles. They can't fight Voldemort if he knocked on their door."

It felt like the blood in his body froze at the thought. DJ swallowed, wishing he could be anywhere else.

Rosalie cringed a little at her harsh words. "I'm sorry, DJ. But Colin's afraid for the right reasons. Let him be with his family. If anything, you should help him make sure they're safe."

Like Luna, DJ thought. She would be helping Colin with the wards.

"But…" DJ hesitated. "What if I don't see him again?"

Rosalie let his wrist free, touching his temple. She looked at him like he was her own child, like a child she'd been praying for, for decades.

"It's not forever, Danny. When this war's over, you'll get to see him again. You just need to wait. And while you wait, you have to stay safe. That's all Colin wants to do."

There was a lump in his throat. DJ hadn't even thought about his parents. Mr. and Mrs. Creevey didn't know magic, didn't know how to defend themselves. Dennis was a kid, aside from a bare shield, and may be a few hexes, there was no way he'd be able to go against Death Eaters. Colin knew a little dueling from their DADA classes, but that was it.

Colin was right. Harry could come back. But the Creeveys wouldn't.

"Right." DJ mumbled feeling his nose clog. He sniffed a little.

Rosalie gave him a soft smile, soft amber eyes darting from left to right. "Tell you what. I'll talk to Sirius. May be get him to let you see Harry?"

DJ snapped his head up at her, wide eyed. "Would you?!"

She stood up, kissing his temple. "No promises, but I'll try. Be good, okay?"

* * *

Percy walked through the corridor, aimlessly. He had a sick feeling in his stomach that felt persistent in tormenting him day and night. It was a chronic discomfort that he knew would last a long time.

He stopped by the stairs, listening in on the soft but cheerful chatter from the hall in the ground floor. Fred and George must have been making jokes because he could hear even Hermione giggling, and she rarely ever laugh out loud without trying to shush herself. He heard DJ say something about paper towels and that caught another round of hushed laughter.

The floorboards creaked behind him and Percy swivelled, bringing out his sword and dagger to arm himself against…

Nico.

The eleven year old gaped up at him, at sword point. He hadn't moved even with Riptide's tip so close to his neck.

"Don't!" Percy hissed, trying not to get angry. Nico didn't mean it. He didn't deserve Percy's anger that was constantly boiling below the surface.

"Can you come with me?" Nico whispered.

"Where?"

"To school."

Percy clicked Riptide and frowned. "School? Goode?"

He nodded.

"Why?"

"I… want to talk to Rachel."

Percy kept staring at him.

"It's Wednesday." Nico explained. "She'll be in class."

Percy retreated his blades and folded his arms. "We're not leaving this house, Nico."

It wasn't that he didn't want to leave. He just wanted to stay long enough to feel stronger about going out. If this was one of the places that Tom couldn't break in, Percy wanted to stay as long as possible. Granted he would be safe at camp as well, but Percy had avoided talking to anyone there, making DJ take all the mirror calls from Annabeth. Nico had to talk to Clarisse to calm her down about breaking into their apartment in Manhattan.

They were all worried since the London attacks. Percy had no idea how to explain to the campers that he'd been possessed. That was an entire barrel of worms he wanted to avoid.

"She broke her mirror." Nico said.

"What?"

"Rachel. Her mirror, she broke it."

"Why?"

"It was an accident. So, I gotta go over there to talk to her directly."

Percy exhaled, squeezing his eyes shut. "We're not leaving, Nico."

The boy stared at him, long and consistent. Percy saw the hurt and the pity and had to struggle to not lash out.

"My dad keeps a record of all mortals in the world."

The unexpected piece of information made Percy blink.

"O…kay."

"If you're dead or alive, you'll be the lists. There are two lists. One is for all the alive mortals and the dead ones who have not been judged. The second is for all the dead ones who have been judged."

Percy nodded wondering where he was going with this.

Nico took a deep breath. "You, Rachel, and Harry are not on them."

The simple sentence didn't feel simple, in fact, it felt like a revelation delivered by a prophet, or worse, the Oracle.

He felt his bracelet itch and had to fight the urge to take out Riptide and skin the thing off his arm. Shoving the violent wish down, he clenched his fists and said, "What does that mean?"

Nico looked like he could sense the distraught sentiment in Percy and swallowed. He was clearly afraid of him. Percy couldn't hate himself any more than he already did.

"It… it means that the three of you aren't mortals." He whispered.

Percy gave a slow nod as though he understood it. He was almost glad he didn't, though. The real explanation might be even more horrifying.

"So, you want to talk to Rachel about this. Can't it wait?"

Nico winced. "I just want to warn her… it'll take a few minutes. I'd go alone, but if your mom finds out –"

"It'll be even more suspicious, if nobody finds the both of us in the house." Percy noted.

The son of Hades frowned. "Then… can you cover for me? I'll be back in just ten minutes, I promi – "

"No."

Nico looked absolutely heartbroken, but Percy didn't relent.

"Sorry, but we're not leaving. Not at least after the week. Camp has to know –"

"But you'll never tell them, right?" Nico muttered.

"What?"

"You… it wasn't your fault! Why can't you just talk to Annabeth? I had to lie to her! I said that things were rough, because they are, and that you'll call her back!" Nico cried.

Percy could see the agitation, palpable across Nico's expression. It was painful. He hated this. He wished he were stronger, wished he could look Annabeth in the eye and tell her that he'd been lying to all of them, been lying about searching for Grover, about everything.

"Give me a few days." Percy whispered, pressing his palms flat against the sides of his thighs. "I need time, Nico."

The fight went out of Nico's body. His shoulders slumped.

"I'm sorry. I know… I didn't mean to yell at you –"

"It's okay."

"It's not! It's not okay! It's…"

Percy watched as Nico shook his head and walked back to his room. Without Harry, he stayed there alone. It worried them, but Nico had assured that he didn't mind sleeping there.

 _I'm sorry_ , Percy thought. _I'm not at my best._

* * *

 _Friday, Dec 7; 8:00 a.m.  
Dynasty Apartments, Manhattan_

Rachel got ready for school, dressing without really paying attention. When she realised that she was trying to roll a sock over her already socked foot, she dropped her head and groaned.

The last few days had been horrible. No, she wasn't being tortured or stuck in visions, but she had had anxiety ridden hours muddling up together all because of the bracelet that was now lodged on her upper, left arm.

And clearly, she had some kind of magic in her now. Rachel had spent the first day trying to levitate things or crush iron bars with her bare hands, nothing worked though. Whatever power she'd been able to use on the bridge, was now gone. Bolt suggested that it was probably concealed in the bracelet.

It felt like a long, mind-numbing week.

Not to mention school.

The only good thing she could think of was the memory of kissing Ginny. That still sent shivers through her body. The good kind of shiver. Her skin tingled at the thought of seeing her again. Rachel wondered if she could go back to the London safe house during the holidays. They wouldn't mind, would they? That house could surely accommodate one more person.

Rachel flopped back on her bed, pressing her hands on her forehead. What was her life?

"You look one hundred percent done." Harry said.

Rachel shrieked, practically flying out of her bed.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!"

Harry was sitting on her beanbag, holding a bright pale golden card in his hands. His legs were stretched out on the rug and he leaned back, smiling at her with a strange disposition that she'd never seen him have.

"Good morning to you."

"WHAT?" Rachel shouted. "What are you… how…?"

She clutched her chest, feeling her heart race at a thousand miles an hour. That felt bad. What if she was having a heart attack. Oh gods, she was going to faint. Bolt leaped onto the bed and Rachel wound her fingers in her pelt.

Harry sighed. "Deep breaths, Rachel. Do you mind if we talk?"

"Are you real?" She pointed a shaking finger at him. Harry blinked, looking a little put out. She noticed that he was in his Hogwarts uniform. It was the same as the previous vision, just before she was magically transported to the train.

"Depends on what you call real." He answered, waving his fingers at her. It was infuriating.

It was then that Rachel's eyes fell on the ticket he held. It was the same. The Hogwarts Express train ticket.

"How…" She gulped, standing slowly. "How did you get that? I gave it to Tonks."

Harry looked at the ticket, a wry smile playing on his lips. "Did you?"

"Yeah!"

"You sure?"

Rachel blanched. She did, right? Yes, she had given the ticket to the pink haired Auror. But how was it here, how was it with Harry?

"You're not real." She said, closing her fists. "That thing's not real, I'm dreaming."

"I assure you, you are not dreaming." Harry said, unblinkingly.

"Then a vision. I'm _visioning_!"

He guffawed. "It's odd when a Seer says things like that."

"I am not a Seer!" Rachel growled. "Don't call me that! Why d'you think I'm one?!"

Harry rolled his eyes. "You're talking to your dead brother, Rachel. What does that make you, if not a Seer?"

She wanted to punch something. Preferably Harry.

That was another new development. Her new bracelet had given her a penchant of being more violent. There had been several instance in school when she'd wanted to attack idiots in her class, idiots who she had no problem ignoring, before the incident of the London attacks.

Something in his sentence struck her, a second later. Harry had spoken with a careless cadence, like she was a stranger he loathed.

In her previous vision, he'd spoken to her in an all-knowing voice. Then, he'd switched to a more casual one.

"Are you?" She asked, trying to swallow past the lump in her throat.

"Am I what?" He drawled, snapping at the ticket.

"Are you my dead brother?"

Silence reigned in the room. She could hear her heart thumping, blood roaring in her ears. Harry had fixed a severe gaze at her, scrutinising her query.

Then he smiled. "Finally, you're asking the right question."

Rachel let out a short breath. "You're not Harry."

He shrugged again, not looking bothered at all.

"Who are you?"

Not-Harry shook his head. "Wrong. If you want your answers, you need to ask the right kind of questions."

Rachel gritted her teeth. What the hell was he even saying? This was an imposter, just like Percy had been possessed…

Not-Harry was still sitting there, looking cool and collected like nothing was wrong.

"You pretended to be Harry!" She yelled, throwing her hands above her head. "I really thought you were him!"

"I was trying to see if you could figure it out." Not-Harry said. "Sorry."

"Sorry doesn't fix it! You can't pose as someone else! It's not right!"

Not-Harry finally looked serious. "Why not?"

"Why not – because you're using someone else's face to do things!" Rachel half screamed at his face. "That's illegal!"

"Is that a human law?"

Rachel gaped at him. He looked honestly confused.

"That's a universal law, okay!?"

He dropped his hands, letting them fall onto his lap with a soft thud. He frowned.

"No one told me that."

She stared. "Isn't it obvious?"

"Is it?"

Rachel's life was messed up. What was this conversation? She shared a look with Bolt before turning back to Not-Harry.

"What question am I supposed to ask you?" She muttered, sitting on the bed again. Not-Harry wasn't giving her a freaked out vibe, so she felt okay.

He shot her another smile, getting to his feet. Rachel looked up, frowning.

Giving her the ticket, Not-Harry said, "I already told you. In any case, there's someone searching for me. May be you'll meet her again."

Rachel took the ticket, wondering if her throat was actually closing up when it felt real and solid in her fingers. She looked up but he was gone.

Bolt leaned against her to look at the ticket. "It's real!"

She swallowed. "Is it just me or do you think that I'm really screwed?"

"It's not you."

"Thanks." Rachel stared at Harry's ticket. It was the real thing alright. What had just happened?

"You're not going to class, are you?" Bolt asked.

"Nope." Rachel jumped to her feet, running towards her art room. She unlocked the door and stepped towards her stack of old canvas paintings.

Dust littered the light and Rachel coughed, waving furiously at the air. Bolt climbed her shoulders, the tiny puppy settling there to observe her movements. She kneeled by the stack and began searching through it.

Finally, she retrieved an old, yellowed canvas from the pile. Blowing over its surface, Rachel looked at the fading paints.

"When did you draw this?" Bolt asked in a hushed whisper.

Rachel stared at the painting of the boy. Pale, soft skin, black, neat hair, dressed in a soft black suit outfit, eyes glowing red.

"A few years ago." She muttered.

"You realise this is Tom Riddle, don't you?" Bolt hissed.

Rachel set the painting by the wall. She'd painted Tom in the centre, looking right at the observer. He had a soft backdrop of red and black, like vapour spread around the canvas. Tom himself seemed regular, quite good looking with his high cheekbones and strong jawline. The only thing out of place in the painting was his red eyes, not natural like some people had, but glowing with a sinister piece of magic.

"Dumbledore called it a horcrux." Rachel said. "It's a thing that can hold someone's soul and possess people with it. But it's not the same with Harry. This person who was here, right now. You saw him too, right?"

"Yeah." Bolt answered, still awestruck by the painting.

Rachel sighed. "So, it wasn't a vision. Unless you could see him because you can see in my head too."

"What're you trying to say?"

"He didn't know that he wasn't supposed to possess or look like someone else." Rachel said, thinking hard. "He looked surprised when I said it."

"He could have been faking it. He did that the first time."

"May be… but I really think he was clueless." Rachel leaned back to sit on the floor, cross-legged.

Bolt looked at her. "You think he wasn't malicious."

"Someone who isn't malicious, but does stuff like that… not for fun, but for a reason… someone with that kind of power, but unaware of the rules… that's a privileged culture. He was born into it."

Rachel watched the painting, looking at Tom, looking back at her. Tom wasn't born into magic. He was raised as a muggle in an orphanage. He had to work hard, to learn the rules of magical society.

The being who impersonated Harry seemed to have no qualms until Rachel pointed out the problem. It felt juvenile. Juvenile but unimaginably powerful because she hadn't been able to sense the mist around them.

"When was the last time a god contacted Camp Half-Blood?" Rachel asked Bolt.

"The party. Remember, Aphrodite and Dionysus were there… they weren't at camp, though."

It didn't feel right. Rachel shut her eyes, wondering if something in her was trying to direct her to the answer. But she needed to ask the right question.

"Oh." Rachel whispered, suddenly remembering the previous vision. Not-Harry had introduced someone to her.

"The Oracle." She breathed.

Bolt gawked. "The Camp Oracle? The mummy? She was pretending to be Harry?"

"No! The Oracle was searching for him! Her! She kept asking 'Where is she?'!"

"Where –"

Rachel looked down at her familiar, finally feeling like she'd fixed two pieces of a gigantic puzzle piece together. "The Patron! The actual person who gave us the bracelets! She's the one who'd been wanting to talk to us!"

Bolt coughed. "But's who's the Patron?"

"We can't ask that, Boltie. The right question is _where is she_?"

It felt like a breakthrough. Finally! Something made sense!

Barely.

"And here, I thought you were going to find the other horcruxes." Bolt muttered.

Rachel sighed, getting to her feet. "I'm not going to school, Bolt. No better use of a Seer's time than to solve the mysteries of life."

As she stood, Rachel blinked and found herself in a dark, burnt corridor.

 _Ash floated through the air. It settled like flakes of snow on her hair. She could almost taste the ash on her tongue. Rachel held her breath._

 _This was a vision. She knew it. She could tell. The edges of her sight were slightly blurred, the objects in her peripheral gaze fading out._

 _It was quiet, she thought. Rachel was staring down a long and wide corridor that had been destroyed to hell and back._

 _Except for a small bit of the floor though. Whatever had burnt the walls hadn't touched the floor. Amidst the debris and soot, Rachel saw the comparatively bare, almost shiny tiles of the floor._

" _Bolt?" She whispered. There was no answer, so she took a few steps ahead, looking around for a way out. There were doors on either side of her, but she ignored them. They were closed, locked, she knew for sure._

 _The lights had gone out. Was it night time? There were no windows, she couldn't tell._

 _At the end of the corridor was a tall mirror embedded into the wall. There were large cracks blooming from the centre, splitting her reflection into fragments._

 _Rachel breathed out silently. Her reflection was different. She was taller, wearing different clothes. Her face was streaked with tears. Her eyes gave a soft green glow. The bracelet on the reflection's arm shone blue through the jacket she wore._

 _There was something about her. Her hair was tangled, spreading away from her head like a reddened halo. There was a beaded necklace around her throat, homemade, very unlike her. There were tiny inscriptions on the cylindrical beads. It looked like Ancient Greek, even though she knew nothing of the language, save for the names of various monsters that she'd Googled over the years._

 _Rachel stepped back. Her broken reflection moved away as well, disappearing into a haze of ash._

 _There was sobbing from one of the rooms. She turned, listening intently to find the source._

 _The closest room was to her right. The door was slightly ajar. She pushed it and it swung open, silently._

 _It looked like a hospital room. The pale pink curtains had been torn from the wall, the soothing wallpaper was dirty and burnt. She'd been here before. This was the room Harry had been admitted in, after the Rome incident._

 _The bed was turned over, the couch was across the room, papers were strewn around, the ceiling was completely charred and broken. Rachel could actually see a hole up there. Snow was falling gently into the room, mixing with the ash._

 _It was cold. Rachel shivered, feeling her fingers and nose grow painfully numb. Her breathe arose in a white mist._

 _The sobbing was quiet and agonising. She recognized the sounds._

 _Behind the fallen bed was Percy, sitting on the floor, his legs splayed to the side. He was clutching Harry to his chest, pressing his face into Harry's shoulder, trying to stifle his cries._

 _He looked dead. Rachel tried to stand strong. Of course, Harry was dead. She knew that._

 _But she'd never thought she'd see his body. Every time she'd seen him, even if it wasn't really him, he'd been alive._

" _Percy?" She whispered. She needed to tell him to not worry. His sobbing broke her heart._

 _Percy stiffened, turning his head slowly to look at her with red-rimmed eyes._

" _He'll wake up." Rachel told him._

 _Percy coughed, trying to draw in air. It looked painful. She wanted to sit beside him, wait with him till Harry woke up. He shouldn't be alone._

 _Her legs didn't move, though. She was stuck, mere feet from them._

" _It's my fault." Percy said, closing his eyes and holding Harry closer to him._

 _Rachel stared at the messy hair. It was so different to Tom's. She couldn't see his face, but knew that his eyes were open, staring blankly ahead._

" _It's not." She croaked. "It's not your fault. Percy, listen to me. He'll wake up."_

" _He's dead." Percy choked._

" _He'll come back! I promise!" Rachel cried. Why couldn't Percy understand that? All three of them had the bracelets. None of them could stay dead. Percy should know this._

" _I found a clue." She said, hoping to distract the distraught demigod. "The Patron. Percy, you know who she is?"_

 _Percy blinked through the tears. "No. Harry does."_

 _Rachel nearly stumbled. "What?"_

 _He couldn't know. The Oracle kept asking him, Harry had no clue. So the Patron made the mummy turn to Rachel._

 _Wasn't that what happened?_

 _Percy sniffled. "Harry knew. He forgot."_

" _He… forgot. He forgot who the Patron is?"_

 _Percy focused on exhaling. He refused to answer, looking back down at Harry._

" _Percy. It's gonna be okay." Rachel said, bending her knees to crouch down to his eye-level._

" _You're sure?"_

 _He looked back at her and she was floored by the desperation swimming in his eyes._

 _It felt like she was lying when she said, "Yes."_

* * *

After lunch, Ginny made her way back to her room. She was tired, yawning every five minutes. It was odd. She wasn't sure why her eyelids weighed ten pounds each, threatening to close.

She stumbled into her room and flopped on her bed. Ginny drifted in and out of her consciousness, so when Hermione and DJ peered into the room to look at her, she sort of knew they were there, and could hear them.

"… she hasn't been sleeping well."

"Crikey. Should we tell Mrs. Weasley?" The voices reached her ears like she was underwater.

"I dunno." That was Hermione. "I mean, it's not like she can't sleep. See, she's completely out now."

"That's 'cause she's exhausted. I've never seen Ginny eat less than what she could get her hands on. Is she sick?" DJ sounded concerned.

"She's … don't tell anyone else. Ron will freak." Hermione's voice was hushed. "She's been having nightmares, I think."

"Really bad ones?"

"I'm not sure. She talks in her sleep. I woke up around three in the morning the last two nights because I thought there were snakes in the room."

"… _what?_ "

"Shh!"

The door closed a bit and their voices were even duller. Ginny tried to strain her ears, but she also didn't want to move away from the sleepy haze that surrounded her brain.

"… talking in Parseltongue. Scared me, to be honest."

What…? Parseltongue.

It sounded familiar to Ginny. The snake language, right. She was talking in Parseltongue in her sleep in the dead of night.

Well, no wonder she was tired. Speaking in a language she'd learned by default after being held prisoner by Tommy for a year was bound to make anyone a little sleepy.

Ginny could have gone back to sleep. She could have searched for the soothing embrace of unconsciousness, but she also knew that she needed to talk to Hermione and DJ.

She struggled for a bit, feeling like her limbs were pure weights, pulling her down to her cosy bed. With a groan, Ginny pushed off from the side, rolled, and spilled out of her bed, her arms flailing before hitting the wooden floor.

"Oww…"

The door opened again, and Hermione and DJ looked in, startled.

"Ginny! Did you hit your head?"

" 'M speak in Parseltongue." Ginny accused, feeling like her words slurred a bit. She gave a jaw popping yawn, blinking slowly.

Hermione helped her sit up to lean against the side of her bed. "You heard us?"

"Bit."

DJ heaved a sigh. "Yeah, we're gonna have to talk about this, Gin. I didn't know you could speak in…Parseltongue."

He whispered the last word. Ginny rubbed her eyes, trying to force herself completely into the realm of consciousness.

"Yeah. I didn't tell anyone."

"Morgana!" Hermione gasped, clapping a hand over her mouth. "Ginny… you could speak it ever since your first year?"

"Basically."

DJ stared. "Oh… wow."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "It's not a big deal. Just promise me that you won't tell my parents. Or my brothers. Hermione's right, they'll all freak out and try to send me to a therapist, again."

"You said the first therapist helped." DJ pointed out.

"The first one, sure. The second sucked. Look, I didn't have nightmares, okay. I don't even remember any dreams the past few nights. I was stone asleep."

"But you were hissing in your sleep, Ginny." Hermione whispered.

"So, it's like any other language! If I were speaking French in my sleep, would we be having this conversation?"

"If you were speaking in French, I would be worried that you were getting close to Rachel only to learn the language, so you could spy on Fleur." DJ muttered.

Ginny glared at him, flicking his forehead with a sharp spark of fire. DJ yelped, backing away.

"It's not funny!" Hermione scolded them. "DJ said he heard Percy doing the same thing!"

Ginny stopped, freezing in her spot. "What did you say?"

DJ winced. "It's… I woke up this morning at around five. I literally thought there was a snake in the room, but turns out, it was Percy hissing under his breath. It seriously creeped me out."

She sat back, trying to fully wake her mind. "Does he usually talk in his sleep?"

He shook his head, dolefully. "I've never woken up from his sleep talking. I don't really know."

"May be it's the after effects." Ginny estimated. She couldn't recall ever having sleep talked after her horrendous first year. Most of that summer, she'd spent sleepless nights, weak and exhausted, magic sparking in random incidents, almost uncontrollably. The night that she did get some sleep, she had nightmares, as though her memories weren't enough to relive her experiences.

"But why would it happen to you now?" Hermione frowned.

"I don't know! May be I'm a sympathetic sleep talker?"

"You're not even in the same room." DJ said.

Ginny held in a curse. "It's better if we just talk to Percy about it. See if it's really something bad, or just a thing he needs to get used to."

"Not now." DJ sighed. "He basically kicked me out, saying he needed the room to himself. I think he's gonna talk to Annabeth."

Ginny and Hermione stared. "He _still_ hasn't spoken to her?"

"No. She's gonna be pissed. And when she finds out what happened –"

"She's gonna be even more pissed." Ginny agreed.

* * *

Percy tried to relax by walking around the quiet house. The remaining Order members had left soon after. The Cullens were travelling back to the castle, some of the teachers were there as well. Remus was dead asleep in his room, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were talking to the twins…

Percy had promised himself that he'd tell Annabeth everything. Someone from camp needed to know. But all he could do was stare at her beautiful, worried, angry face and tell her that he'd talk to her in person.

And while that may have been a mature move, when he followed that up with 'I might be coming over only after a few days…', Percy truly felt like she'd been close to yelling at him.

But she hadn't raised her voice. Annabeth's sharp silvery eyes had bored right through his. Something in him must have told her that it wasn't the right time to argue. She'd let it go for now, making Percy swear to tell her the while truth once he did go back to camp.

Percy touched his bare neck, wondering if Tom had purposefully taken the camp necklace away or had somehow broken it and had never bothered to fix it.

He walked into the living room and spotted Sally sitting on the couch, reading the newspaper. She was pale and tired and he knew that she hadn't been keeping well, especially since the London attacks. He spotted Sirius lying on the couch, his head on her lap, dozing.

As far as Percy knew, the man had spent the past forty hours travelling between the Ministry and St. Mungo's probably trying to handle the press and the public as much as he could. He was basically the spokesperson for the Order, bridging the gap between them and the Aurors. Percy didn't want to think of the amount of work he'd have. As far as he knew, Sirius wasn't even being paid for his job. Not that he needed the gold.

The pair were quiet, clearly enjoying the blessed few hours they probably had before Sirius would have to leave again. His robes had been thrown over one of the smaller armchairs, his face covered in soot. Sally was running a hand through his hair, absentmindedly.

Percy watched then' Sally's back was to him, so she couldn't see him. He tried to think of a way to ease her worries.

It took him twenty minutes because he was usually banned from the kitchen for the sake of his mom's BP.

Percy coughed, keeping it barely above a whisper. Sally turned around, eyes growing wide when she saw her son carrying a tray and two cups of tea.

"Gods, Percy! You… did you make this?"

"Yeah…"

She cleared her throat, as though it was a very emotional moment. Percy set the tray on the small table in front of her before sitting on the armchair closest to her.

"You looked tired, so I thought…" He gave a shrug.

Sally reached out a hand to touch his cheek. She was blinking rapidly.

To Percy's horror, she began to cry.

"Mom?" He whispered. She shook her head, wiping her face quickly and picking up the cup.

"It's fine. I'm okay. I just feel –" Sally stopped, the cup right below her nose. She sniffed it and recoiled.

Percy nearly started, panicking if he'd put salt in it instead of sugar.

"It smells off." She muttered, wincing.

"Sorry. I must have made it wrong." Percy felt his insides twist, because she looked so worried. "I'll make another –"

"No, that's okay. Percy. I've been avoiding tea." She set the cup down and tried to sit up without jostling Sirius too much. The wizard gave a grunt and turned, burrowing his face into her stomach.

Since when did his mom stop drinking tea? Sirius would always make it for her when he was over at their apartment in New York City. She'd had no problems with it then. Was Percy that bad at making it?

That or he'd completely missed it when she had stopped taking tea.

He'd missed a lot of things.

"Hey." Sally placed a hand on his knee. "Don't do that."

"What d'you think I'm doing?" He mumbled.

"I'm not mad at you." She said. "And none of this is your fault."

Percy stared down at the cup. Steam rose from the liquid.

"Everyone keeps saying that."

"Because it's true." She insisted.

Percy hesitated. "I… I don't want to talk about it."

"Pepe –"

"No, Mama." He said, trying not to grit his teeth. "Más o menos. ¿Y tú?" (Okay/ So-so. How about you?)

A strange look came over her face. She seemed a little awkward, leaning back and frowning.

"Estoy… enferma." She winced. (I'm sick.)

"What?" Percy sat up. "Sick how? What –"

"Shush!" She looked down at Sirius, who hadn't even stirred.

"Mom!" Percy hissed.

"I'm okay. I'm just… Percy, look at me."

"You said you weren't okay!"

"I am okay. Just tired and pregnant."

Percy stared. He hadn't heard that properly.

"Huh?"

Sally let out a breath, shoulders slumping down. "I… well, I'm almost six weeks along…"

He couldn't look away. The words weren't registering –

Pregnant.

What?

His eyes dropped to her stomach, but it was obscured by Sirius's bed-head.

Percy pointed at him. "Is it…"

Sally huffed. "Yes, Sirius is the father."

That was a bit of relief. He could trust Sirius, he'd known him long enough to know that Sirius was nothing like Gabe or any of the gods. Percy inhaled, trying to settle down.

 _Holy shit, his mom was pregnant!_

So much for staying calm.

Sally was watching him, a little nervous. As though, she was uneasy about his reaction.

"Um… do you want hot chocolate?"

His mom stared for a second longer, before a small smile graced him. "If you don't mind… thanks, Pepe."

Still feeling his brain implode, Percy stood up, grabbed the tray and headed for the kitchen.

Then he turned around, bounded back to her and kissed her on the cheek.

She looked like she was about to cry again. But the happiness was distinct and it made him feel useful and needed; like he was less of a burden.

He could do this. Percy could manage it, couldn't he? His mom was _pregnant_. He was going to have a little sibling. His entire world seemed to shift on its axis, changing from his anxieties, from his mistakes, his stupidity, changing to focus on a baby that wasn't formed yet.

Percy set the tray down on the kitchen table, feeling part of something bigger, but not feeling any smaller.

For the first time in a long while, he smiled.

Nearly six weeks. Eight months to go.

His smile disappeared when he realised that the baby would more or less be born after July. Right before the Second Titan War was due to start.

"Shit." Percy breathed out, feeling his hands shake at the thought.

"Never thought I'd see the day when Percy Jackson swore."

Everything in the room melted away. Percy felt the cold attack him, felt the skin on the back of his neck, on his chest, prickle with searing pain that was only in his head, but very real.

Tom was standing there.

Tom Riddle was standing on the other side of the kitchen table, hands leaning on the flat wood to support his flickering form. His eyes glowed a faint red, his body disappeared in short intervals before sparking back.

Slytherin's locket sat on the table, between the two of them, its tiny emerald stones gleaming.

Percy heard the door close on its own. He was staring at Tom, unable to react, feeling as though his muscles had frozen, feeling petrified.

No…

No.

"How…" He rasped.

Tom scowled. "How did I get in? You have no idea what it took to scrap myself through. The Fidilius charm is a cut above the rest, but honestly, you were all fools if you thought it would keep _me_ out."

The locket flew from the table, targeting Percy. He leapt back, dodging it and heading towards the stove. The locket clattered to the floor.

Tom had disappeared. Percy kept his eyes wide open, staring furiously at the locket, but also ready for Tom to make his next move.

Percy needed to get out of here. Everyone had to leave. If Tom could get in –

The locket gave a strong, hot pulse of magic, directing it at Percy. He ducked, bringing out Riptide, but a sword wouldn't do much against a non-tangible magic.

The red mist hit him, slicing his arms with a scorch of flames. Percy yelped, dropping his sword and clutching his bleeding arms.

The drops of blood seemed to evaporate into the air, feeding the red vapour. Tom suddenly flickered into the light, looking more real than before.

He was feeding off of Percy. Again.

"Stop it!" Percy yelled, cringing when he felt the cuts on his arms. They weren't deep, but it hurt.

"Relax, I'm not trying to kill you." Tom sighed, turning his head this way and that. "I just need a bit of magic to function. Blood's the best. Your blood's better than the best."

"Why'd you come back?" Percy shuffled around the table, as Tom walked towards him. His heart was thundering in his chest. The red flavoured magic from Tom, from the locket spread out through the room, seemingly imprisoning him in it. He had a feeling that the door was locked.

"Not for you, don't worry. I came to pick something up." Tom closed his eyes, frowning a bit.

"Who?"

"No one. I'm here for _my_ stuff."

His stuff? Percy frowned, trying to think through the burning pain.

His shiny stuff. The horcruxes.

Percy swallowed. "You left them here?!"

"Couldn't keep them on you." Tom shrugged. He waved his hands as though testing them. "The safe house was the safest place I could think of."

Cold sweat broke out and Percy shuddered. He clutched his arms, trying not to agitate the cuts. Riptide was still on the floor. He wasn't sure if he could reach it in time, before Tom could throw another curse at him.

But would celestial bronze do anything against him? Tom wasn't corporeal.

The locket made a clinking sound, dashing up from the floor. Percy moved to the left, but Tom blocked his path again.

The chain touched his skin and Percy gasped, feeling something getting _sucked_ out of his body right at the point where the locket's chain had touched his wrist –

The bracelet made a low humming sound, bright blue and green light pulsing out. The light hit the locket, sending it clattering back on the table.

Tom stumbled back, hissing under his breath.

Percy grabbed the bracelet, eyes wide. The pain from his cuts seemed to lessen. His mind felt clearer.

"I'm beginning to wonder if it's you who's powerful or that damned thing." Tom spat. He still seemed weak, hands tight over the back of a chair, to hold him up.

The bracelet, Percy thought. That would be powerful. It's definitely stronger than the locket, a literal soul sucking item.

"You need to leave, Tom." Percy whispered. "Now."

"You're giving _me_ orders?" The incredulity was cutting.

"A warning." Percy said. "This the Order's base, you know that."

Tom scoffed. "It almost sounds like you're looking out for me. That's not how a threat works, Percy."

"I'm not threatening you. I'm trying to talk to you."

Tom's red eyes nearly flickered out, revealing blue. He was shocked. Percy wondered if anyone ever tried to honestly speak to Tom like a person, after they found out that he was an evil, mass murdering psychopath.

They probably didn't survive to try anything like that.

Percy relaxed his arms, trying to remove the tenseness in his body, trying to show a softer exterior. Tom was on high alert. The locket was motionless in the middle of the table, an equal distance from them both.

"You wanna believe that that's all you're here for?" Percy asked.

"You're talking nonsense."

"Why are you really here, Tom?"

"For my stuff!" Tom hissed. The red energy around his formless body shook.

Three horcruxes hidden in the house. Percy didn't understand how, despite all the security and safety measures, that was possible.

"You love it when the bass drops."

Tom didn't even blink. He gaped at Percy who repeated. "You always paid attention to the bass drops in all the songs. I saw you during the party. You kept turning to listen to the music."

Tom's form was frozen. Percy continued.

"You like peppermint humbugs. You stood right next to a plate of them just so you could smell them the whole night."

Percy took a step forward, but Tom didn't react. "You talk a lot not just because you want people to know how clever you are, but because you were stuck in this house for fifty years and you'd hated it. Kreacher was the only one you could talk to, but you wanted to interact with people. That's why the first night we stayed here, you made Kreacher dodge all of Sirius's questions, and made sure someone would be able to hear you. You didn't care who it was, you just wanted to talk to someone."

The red in his eyes dimmed out. Tom was staring at him like he wanted to hear more, but didn't dare to actually ask.

"You're favourite colour is gold, but you tell yourself it's silver." Percy said earnestly, turning his body to the left as he took another step. He gradually swung his left arm to hide it from view.

"You prefer cotton blend robes to the velvet ones because it's much more practical." He gave him a small smile. "You feel like you're alone in the world but you try to convince yourself that it's your choice. But sometimes you have doubts. You wonder if it's the right choice. And that's okay, Tom. It's okay to doubt yourself. That's how you learn and change yourself."

Percy brought his dagger out hiding it behind his back, silently talking one final step. The locket was barely a foot from him.

"That's how you become powerful." Percy whispered, holding his gaze. "That's how you improve. It's not just a sounding board that you need, Tom. It's someone who can spend time with you, who likes spending time with you, helping you when you're too proud to ask, not taking any of your shit, because _that's_ how you become powerful – by having a friend."

Tom hadn't moved an inch, stunned, shocked, or entranced by his words, Percy didn't know. What he did know was that the next moment was the fastest he'd ever moved.

Percy brought his dagger out, swinging it with a ferocity that exploded out of his entire body. He brought the blade down on the locket, not caring if he died killing it. He'd come back anyway.

He should have been faster.

* * *

 **Hoooooo! Well, another cliffhanger for you! Stay tuned for the next chappie!**

 **Q: Do you think Percy earned his viciousness before or after the Tartarus episode?**

 **Cabba.**


	55. No Going Back

**A: Percy has been pretty vicious since the start. In the first book, he beheaded Procrustes, not accidentally. I honestly think that's different from when he killed the Minotaur. With the first, he lost his mom and got scared and angry. But with Crusty, Percy was in control, Crusty was tied down, basically vulnerable and Percy just went bamf and scary and** _ **chopped his head off!**_

 **To be fair, Crusty had nearly killed Annabeth and Grover… but I feel as though Percy has always had that killer instinct which was fine-tuned with his years as an active demigod fighting in battles and wars. Other notable points in his life are the Styx dip, when Luke dies, when Zoe dies, the training under Lupa, and of course, Tartarus.**

 **Catie Cat: Your comment made me smile! It made my day, as it always does. Thank you! The cliff-screaming point is good. I'll keep that in mind. And you'll love what I have in store for Tom. You'll also hate what Tom has in store for you.**

 **Lady among the trees: You did jinx it… but this story is going the way I've planned (more or less), so not much would have changed it.**

 **munaamohamed05: Interesting point. Being able to suddenly power up can change one drastically. I still think it was gradual, but distinct, especially since he saw his first death, Zoe.**

 **POLL'S OVER** **! Finally. It's been more than two years. Here are the results with 52 individual voters!  
** **\- [** **So... I'm killing someone in this installment of Pumki, 'Power'. Any guesses? This character is going to stay permanently dead...]**

 **Bianca di Angelo - 15  
Ginny Weasley – 11  
Daniel 'DJ' Potter – 9  
Sirius Black – 8  
Remus Lupin – 5  
Rachel E Dare – 2  
Nico di Angelo – 0  
Percy Jackson - 0**

 **(This is not the final chapter, but one of these characters is going bye-bye.)**

 **Warnings: Violence, Character death**

 **Listening to –** _ **Sacrifice**_ **by Zella Day (male cover)**

* * *

 _Rachel was in a large, dark hallway, burned and uninhabitable. She heard sobbing through the walls._

* * *

The dagger didn't even reach the locket before Tom roared, sending his poisonous energy through the air again. The red vapour manifested into a wide arc, hitting Percy in the middle. He flew backwards and slammed into the wall.

The rest of the vapour created a resounding explosion as it destroyed the kitchen and shook the entire house.

The wall splintered, dust emerging from the cracks. The ceiling broke and chunks of it fell by the door.

Percy felt the throbbing echo from deep in his brain, spreading into the rest of his skull. His entire body ached.

Tom kicked the table away. The locket flew back to him and his eyes grew a furious red, the scowl on his face ever present. He marched towards Percy.

" _You pathetic little liar –_ "

He was cut off when a sharp blue beam of light slammed into his side, throwing Tom off track. Percy watched through dazed eyes, the silhouette of Sirius emerging through the broken space that had once been the kitchen door.

"PERCY!" Sally screamed. He couldn't see her. Where was she? Her voice rang painfully in his head. He tried to push himself off the floor, but his arms felt like jelly.

"M – om!"

"Evacuate!" Sirius shouted, probably to the others who were still on the upper floors. Percy turned to the counter where Tom gave a growl, getting to his feet. His form kept flickering.

They needed to tire him out. Percy knew this. When Tom had brought Gabe back to life, it had drained him of enough energy that he relied solely on Percy.

"It's him!" Percy yelled, desperate for Sirius and Sally to understand. "IT'S TOM!"

"Damn right." Tom whispered. He brought his hands to the front, summoning the red vapour again.

Before Percy could warn them, Sirius had already pushed Sally away. Tom blasted a violent pulse of energy that streaked through Sirius's chest.

Percy watched in horror as the man crumpled to the floor, letting out a little wheeze as he hit his head. His pale skin began to convulse, turning red and blue as though he'd been bruised.

There was a shriek from above and the ceiling ripped apart as a barrage of curses rained down on Tom. Percy felt mute, watching Molly and Arthur along with Fred and George, duel with Tom.

He took the bombardment, dodging and blocking them, while sending out his own attacks. Percy shielded his head as broken bits of wooden planks flew all around them. The house was getting torn apart.

His ears felt tender. The noises reverberated around him. Percy crawled his way towards the door where Sally was kneeling by Sirius's gasping form. She was crying, holding his head and stammering, "Breathe! Sirius… y…you…you gotta breathe! Oh gods! Percy!"

Percy couldn't see any wounds on him, but Sirius was clearly in incredible pain. He kept clawing at his chest as though something was hurting him from within.

"Mom!" Percy panted. He couldn't sit up properly. His head felt too heavy. "Mom, portkey!"

She grabbed his hand, trying to pull him out of the kitchen, but the house shook again and they crouched against the wall.

Fred and George rushed to them, dragging Sirius out of the way. Their faces were dirty, but fierce, hair sticking up from the energy of the mad man in the kitchen.

"Take her!" Percy coughed, trying to remove his mom's painful grip on him. Sally stiffened, turning to berate him, but one of the stray curses caught the door jamb. It tore apart a sizeable portion of the entire wall that separated the living room from the kitchen.

Percy took cover by rolling away in time, when he saw George yank Sally away from the blast.

"Percy!" Nico's voice could be heard all the way from the third floor. Even behind the screen of spells, Percy saw him disappear into the shadows.

He materialised right by Tom, startling everyone.

"Nico!" Percy barely got the name out before Nico summoned the shadows and brought the weight of the entire darkness down on Tom.

He gave a grunt, feeling the red vapour dissipate a bit. The coarse black magic that surrounded the little demigod offered a little protection. With a sudden lack in Tom's ability to fire spells, one of the curses from the Weasleys hit him face on.

Tom let out a shriek, the spell having been ineffective. He gave a terrifying hiss, " _I SUMMON THEE!"_

Percy understood the words clearly, even under the snake language. He felt the air move, rippling under the destructive force and realised what was happening.

"NICO, RUN!"

Percy grabbed the wall, ready to drag himself towards his cousin, but the floor had already cracked open, three gleaming artefacts flying out and merging with Tom's partial body.

The explosion was tremendous.

Grimmauld Place cracked open like an egg, from the inside. Violent and within one strike, destroying the ground floor.

Percy felt the floorboards give way and he fell ten feet, dropping into the basement, into one of the many shelves that had been stacked over the summer.

He screamed when he felt something heavy, something like an iron box, pin his legs down to the ground. Covering his head with his arms, Percy held still till the trembling stopped, till the dust settled and the bricks stopped falling.

For one moment, he was glad when the silence spread. Then, Percy panicked.

He looked up and could see the grey, clouded sky, through the open holes that had been created in the ceilings and the roof of the house. Percy tried to get up, but rasped when he couldn't move anything below his torso. His entire body shook from the strain, the ache climbing up his agitated limbs.

He saw a large mass of the marble counter, which had previously served as the kitchen platform, lying on his legs. It was incredibly heavy.

Percy brought his hand up to shift it away, feeling his ankles twinge.

"Mom!" He croaked, trying to find a sign of life. He couldn't see anything that hadn't been untouched by the blast. It was a miracle that the four floors of the house were still standing, but Percy could see the broken banisters. The stairs were gone.

In the distance, he thought he could hear sirens.

Something fell with a clink. A piece of broken tile landed next to him. Percy looked up and saw Tom smiling down at him from the edge of the kitchen's broken floor.

His eyes were a powerful red, but his body still looked translucent. It shimmered like the red and black magic around him.

Percy couldn't see anyone else. Horror filled him, drowning his lungs. He felt like he couldn't breathe.

"That bracelet is really something." Tom hummed. His voice sounded hoarse like he'd used it for a stretch of time.

"N…Nico…"

"He's fine. I told you, I wouldn't hurt a demigod. No, what I'm interested in is how you survived that curse. Any mortal should have succumbed."

What curse? Percy frowned, wincing when he felt a muscle in his back pull. He couldn't understand what was being said.

Tom eyes slid from Percy's face to the floor. No… to his arm… to the bracelet.

"I'm going to need a closer look at that." Tom muttered. Percy's heart was hammering fast against his ribs. His skin felt sticky from the sweat and debris clinging to him. He couldn't get up.

"You don't mind, do you?"

Tom ended his question by raising Riptide. Percy's breaths stuttered. He couldn't look at anyone, let alone Tom Riddle, pick up _his_ sword.

"I mind," Someone answered from above.

Tom looked up, confused. Percy almost couldn't see who had said that, but he knew the voice very clearly.

DJ landed on the trembling floor of the kitchen, as though he'd jumped from the top. Bright blue swirls of magic emerged from his body. Percy had never seen his eyes glow like that.

Tom was already summoning power from the four horcruxes, but DJ acted, not even using a specific spell.

Distantly, Percy thought it may have been hilarious. Tom let out a gasp, as he flew up, thrown by DJ's magic. He dropped Riptide and slammed against the broken roof.

Hufflepuff's cup, Ravenclaw's diadem, and Slytherin's ring clattered to the kitchen floor as Tom was bounced around the house, smashing into the ceilings and the walls.

DJ, with his hands directing how to hurt him the most, crushed his open palms, making tight fists. The house shook again, but this time, large sections of the walls caved in.

Tom growled something, trying to hit him with a spell, but it missed. DJ flung him down, just across the basement. Tom hit the floor with a proper force that created a crater in the ground. The heavy walls and even chunks of the staircases flew in, a thousand pounds of broken wood and metal, slamming on top of the horcrux, piling up till he was crushed under the groaning weight. The noise was incredible. Dust poured from the chaos. Somehow, everything had miraculously missed Percy.

Percy coughed, turning his neck to look down at the hole that had been created _in_ the basement. It looked as though DJ had sent Tom half way to the centre of the planet.

The noise died down and DJ jumped from the kitchen, landing right beside Percy's feet, far too light on the entry.

Percy stared up at him. "Did you… were you _flying_?"

DJ helped get the marble counter off of Percy legs, and pulled him up. The house gave a groan and Percy knew they had to get out before the rest of the walls came down upon them.

"I can't stand… something broken!" Percy gasped, resting most of his weight on DJ's shoulder. His ankle screamed in protest at the sudden move.

"Sorry."

"We need to go!"

"Yeah, hang on!"

DJ wrapped his hands around Percy's waist and they rose into the air. Percy had never felt so relieved to fly. The air flew past them and they landed on the kitchen floor. Percy saw the three horcruxes, laying innocently below the fallen stove.

"We can't leave that." DJ whispered.

"I… I know. Can you banish them?"

"Not sure."

There was a groan behind them. The boys turned and found Nico lying in a small space below the half blown up counter. Percy gaped, recognizing Sirius's house elf, Kreacher's old room.

He pushed away from DJ, trying to get to Nico, but the glaring whole in the kitchen floor made it impossible for him to reach him. He could jump, but had a feeling that his legs would never work again if he tried. "Nico? Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

Nico blinked. He was lying on the side, curled up. Blood trickled down his face.

"Your head." DJ winced.

"Your head." Nico said in return, looking up at Percy. He figured he was bleeding, too.

"Nico, can you get out? No time to argue, say yes or –"

"I can." He huffed, sitting up and touching his head gingerly. "We have to get Hermione to the hospital, she got hit by one of the curses."

"Sirius, too." Percy muttered.

A loud sound like a landslide erupted from the basement. Percy shot a stunned look at DJ, who seemed equally shocked. A blow like that should have killed Tom, but apparently, nothing worked on him.

"Get out!" DJ yelled at Nico. He grabbed Percy and flew them over to the living room, but a sharp red beam smacked them out of the air.

Percy nearly screeched as he landed on his bad leg again, feeling something else break. He rolled to a stop and grabbed DJ's shirt to drag him out of harm's way.

Tom glared up at him. He stood in front of the pile DJ had created, his form flickering from rage, from inconsistency or power. His eyes burnt crimson and he raised his hand. DJ pushed Percy behind him and faced Tom, yelling " _Protego Maxima!"_

A dark blue shield emerged from his hands expanding to cover them. Cool breeze hit Percy. Time slowed down.

The spell did nothing to deter Tom. He said, " _Avada Kedavra_."

The curse manifested from his palms and raced in a straight path. It broke through the large shield, as though moving through a substance-less cloud, and hit DJ in the chest. The force of it jolted him.

Everything fell silent.

DJ seemed to stand still, surprised but what had happened. Percy watched as his expression didn't change. The boy tilted backwards, doing nothing to catch himself as he fell on the floor with a loud and painful thud.

The green haze was imprinted Percy's retinas and he felt numb. What had happened?

He was still clutching his knee, watching DJ closely. Eyes open, staring without really seeing. Was he looking at the broken ceiling? Was he trying to look at the sky?

Percy felt disoriented. He tried to swallow down the growing shock. "DJ?"

There was no answer.

Some part of Percy already knew that DJ would never say anything again.

Out of the corner of his eyes, Percy saw the red vapour emerge from the basement. He heard the whisper of the horcruxes and Tom picked them up.

Something touched his arm, hot, nearly scalding, but Percy couldn't bring himself to withdraw. He was waiting for DJ to get up.

"I think…" Tom said, voice almost chipper. "… your little bracelet has a lot more than meets the eye. Wouldn't it be interesting to find out?"

Percy observed him, running his eyes over his face, chest, hands, waiting for a finger or an eyelid to twitch, to move, waiting for him to take a breath, because no one could go that long without breathing, right?

"Might be better to go elsewhere." Tom whispered. Percy couldn't look away. He felt a hand wrap around his elbow as though he was about to be lifted.

Then, a series of loud pops echoed from outside the house. Percy nearly jumped at the sound, but it was nothing compared to the crash of the door opening. Someone shouted a word and red light filled Percy's vision, sending a tremor up his body. Percy felt disorientation hit his mind. He closed his eyes and dropped next to DJ.

May be, they'd wake up together.

* * *

 _Friday, Dec 7; 2:00 p.m.  
_ _Ministry of Magic, London_

It was quiet when Ginny raised her head. She was in a large circular room, devoid of furniture or anything, really. The walls were curved all around her, plain and grey. The floor in the middle, where she lay, was a raised dais. She could feel it absorbing the small nervous flames that danced along her fingertips.

She touched her throat and felt the black crystal, her emergency portkey, grow warm. It settled, growing useless.

Ginny sat up and tried to think back exactly what had happened.

She had been talking to Hermione and DJ about her sleep-talking tendencies, no big deal. Then the house had shaken for a brief second before something had exploded below them and they were all thrown against the wall.

Ginny had hit the window, nearly breaking something in her body. She'd panicked. Her body grew hot and practically burst into flames, but Hermione had screamed at her to activate her portkey and she did.

The crystal had never been used before. She could feel its edges, covered in soot, probably charred. The floor around her had been blackened from the fire that had erupted from her body, uncontrolled.

This was one of the emergency lockdown rooms in outer section of the Department of Mysteries. It was a room designed for Ginny, in case she lost control of her magic and had the inclination to bring down a building.

She was alone.

Ginny's heart was thudding, legs trembling as she stood slowly. She called out, "Hello?"

There should be a door somewhere … right?

She walked around, descending the dais and heading for the wall, feeling its smoothened surface. Her fire had attacked only the centre of the room, thankfully.

"I'm done!" She said, looking towards the ceiling that seemed a hundred feet away. "I'm in control!"

There was a slight creak as a portion of a wall opened, a glamour infused door. Someone peered in, wearing deep blue robes.

"Yes!" he squeaked, looking terrified of her. "Ms. Weasley! All good?"

"Yes!" She said marching towards him. "Can I talk to an Auror?"

"I'm sorry, you will need to be checked by a certified Healer. Only then you can leave the room –"

"Excuse me?" Ginny said, angrily. "The house I was in was just attacked! I need you to send reinforcements there."

The Ministry employee nodded. He looked younger than Bill, but he must have experience with fire or runic magic if he was allowed near her, without evaluation. "O…oh! Okay, I can send the message. Where's this house?"

She froze. Her tongue felt swollen and heavy. She couldn't say the address.

"It's… It's protected under the Fidelius charm! But tell Albus Dumbledore! Or an Order member!"

"Okay, okay!" He exited the room, door closing behind him so she couldn't escape. Ginny glared at the disguised door.

There had been a blast in the safe house. That had been scary. What if something bad was happening, right now? What if Grimmauld Place had been attacked?

She waited there for at least ten long, arduous minutes. Her body was mind numbingly anxious.

Soon, the door opened. Two people walked in, a man and a woman. They took her pulse, measured her pressure and breathing, checked for any anomalies.

"You're good!" The woman claimed, gesturing Ginny towards the door. The man took the portkey to examine the damage she'd wrecked to the crystal.

"That can be fixed, right?" She asked, following them out. The corridor in the Department of Mysteries was laced with black tiles on the floor, walls, and ceiling. She could see her own warped reflection in all directions.

"It would be better to replace it altogether. You can wait here with the others." The woman nodded, and Ginny caught sight of Ron and Neville, sitting on a bench by large double doors at the end of the corridor.

"Gin! You okay?" Ron exclaimed, springing to his feet and bringing her into a tight hug. Ginny squeezed him quickly and kicked at his feet when he held too long.

"I'm fine! What about you, did you panic?"

Ron winced. "Nearly. This great big chunk of ceiling fell on me and I just used the portkey to get away."

Right. Ginny looked up at her brother, revelling in the relief that he was alright. Ron could never lose control of his magic. Everyone was worried about her mostly, in that respect.

"Nev?"

Neville looked up, his feet tapping the floor nervously. "Huh? No, I didn't have a Ministry issued portkey, like you guys. My parents gave me a way out in case anything happened. My portkey took me to Kingsley's office. I came down here 'cause I knew one of you would be here."

Ron sat back down. "Did you hear anything more from the house?"

Neville shook his head, "Nothing. Kingsley left the room as soon as I told him. No one's told me anything."

Ginny sat beside Ron, bending forwards to stare at her distortion reflection in the floor, trying to convince herself it wasn't so bad.

"Hermione isn't here yet." She said. "May be it's nothing bad. May be it was an accident?"

The three waited half an hour, trying not to echo any anxious sentiment, before a blond Auror they'd seen occasionally with Cedric, approached them.

"Hey, come on. Let's go." He said, already turning on his heel to walk out the same way he'd come in.

Ginny stood with Ron and Neville, sharing confused looks at each other. She rattled her head around for the Auror's name before she got it.

"Belstone! Zack Belstone, what's going on?"

"I'm to take you to St. Mungo's." Zack said, half sprinting past the large offices, heading for the elevators.

"Is it safe?" Neville asked, quietly. "Aren't there those security measures –"

"The new dome shield, yeah. That'll keep you safe. We can't spare enough Aurors to watch out for every single one of you." Zack explained, pressing the button for the ground floor. "So I'll drop you at the hospital and you will stay in one room till tomorrow morning. The Headmaster will be in, by then."

The elevator rattled as it zipped them up in seconds. Ginny stretched on her toes to reach a hand hold from the ceiling of the elevator.

"Wait, where's Dumbledore?" Ron demanded. "Why's he coming _tomorrow_?"

"Order business." Zack responded, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Is everyone alright?" Neville asked, elbowing Ron. "What about Hermione, did she get admitted?"

Zack frowned. "Who?"

"Hermione Granger." Ron answered, like a motor mouth. "She's 5' 5'', has brown, super curly hair. Brown eyes, really warm and pretty. She was wearing a pink jumper, rolled the sleeves up to her elbows because she doesn't like it when it covers her wrists. It's her pet peeve. Her trousers were new, she got it as a gift from Lavender, which is why it has all those rips and tears. Hermione doesn't typically wear things like that. But it was a nice gift and she doesn't need a belt for it, that's why she wore it today."

Ginny let out a sigh that was thankfully covered by the sound of the elevator doors opening. The group stepped out and Zack said, "Right… she's fine. You'll be staying in her room for the night."

"Wha—a?!" Ron squeaked.

Despite Ginny's restless nature, she smiled. "He means we're _all_ sharing one room. Calm down, Casanova."

Ron's stuttering defences achieved nothing. They made their way to a room with long rows of seats that were currently unoccupied. Zack led them through the lobby into another room where Tonks was waiting for them.

Something was wrong. Ginny saw the tight-lipped, drawn face, saw her greyed hair, saw the wand gripped her shaking hand.

"Tonks?" Neville asked as they reached her. "Are you okay?"

She gave him a long look and that only scared Ginny.

"It's been a long few days." Tonks muttered. She shared a knowing glance with Zack who said, "Ced and I will help King, here. Take a day, Tonks."

"Can't. I promised Sirius I'd be with Harry, when he's busy."

"How's Harry?" Ron asked immediately, but Tonks shook her head. "Your parents are waiting for you at the hospital, they'll explain everything. We're apparating."

"Appara – Side along? But – "

"No time!" Tonks snapped. "Hold on!"

* * *

 _Friday, Dec 7; 4:00 p.m.  
_ _St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, London_

Percy woke up slowly. He wasn't aware or ready to get up, so he listened to the soft conversation around him.

He could hear Hermione's voice… and Neville's. He knew that there were other people in the room, but nobody else spoke.

"I'm going to get some tea." Neville said. He sounded odd, as though he had to force himself to breathe evenly.

"I'll come with you." Ron mumbled. It was the first time Percy heard him. So far, Hermione and Neville had been the only ones talking.

"Anyone wants anything?"

"I'd like a coffee, if they have it." Hermione answered. "Ginny, d'you want –"

"No."

"No, thanks." One of the twins said. Either Fred or George, Percy wasn't sure. The person sounded devoid of the usual silly energy that they had.

Percy strained his ears, waiting to hear other voices. He guessed that his mom, Nico, DJ, and Harry weren't in the room. But Percy kept his eyes shut, pretending to be asleep.

Harry was still dead. He would be on the fifth floor.

His mom… Sirius had been injured. She'd be with him. Of course, she would. They might be in a different room.

Percy wasn't sure why Nico was absent.

He knew why DJ wasn't here. No matter how much he tried to pushed the thought out of his head, it didn't change that fact.

"Percy?" Hermione's voice was soft. Percy didn't move other than to take deep breaths. He could feel their eyes on him.

"They won't let us leave." Ron's voice came up again. The door closed with a click and Neville heaved a sigh as they sat down, probably on a couch or another bed. It sounded as though they were in a sufficiently large room for everyone to stretch out comfortably.

"The Auror said she'd bring snacks." Ron pacified them.

"Ron –"

"They might have the sugar quills, Gin. That's your favourite –"

"Ron, stop it."

"Stop what? Trying to help her?"

"She doesn't want anything." Hermione said.

Ron's voice rose. "Ginny usually eats about this time. What if she's hungry?"

"She's right here, ask her."

"Ginny, do you want –"

"No."

Percy gulped. Ginny sounded shut down, closed off. She sounded like she was distancing herself from everyone. She sounded one step away from falling off a tower.

Nobody spoke for a bit. Percy kept wishing Nico would say something. May be he was asleep as well. Or may be he wasn't in the room at all.

Sally might have sent him off to camp. Percy didn't know what they would think. What would they say if they knew everything that happened?

"Percy, are you awake?" It was Neville asking, this time.

Percy didn't move for a while. Then he exhaled, eyes still closed, and asked, "Where's Nico?"

"Nico left a while back." Neville answered.

He sounded nervous. The room fell from silence to a deadly hush. Percy blinked, looking up.

He was on a hospital bed, flat but raised above the others who sat on regular cots. The room was rectangular and long, two sets of windows on the long side of the room, with the main door on the opposite side. There was another smaller door at adjacent Percy's bed, probably for the restroom.

Hermione and Neville had similar looks of unease, faces pale. Ron looked high strung, one arm clasped around a propped up knee. Fred and George sat on another bed, backs to the wall. Ginny sat on the last bed, staring out the window, her face unreadable.

No. Percy could see the exact emotions brewing there. She just wasn't expressing them physically. It looked like a storm that was close to shore, ready to hit them at a moment's notice.

"You okay?" Percy asked Hermione.

She swallowed. "Yeah. Just got stunned."

"When did Nico leave?"

Neville looked towards the twins. One of them answered, "Right after the Aurors left the room. But an hour ago, he came back, took five galleons and left again."

Percy frowned. That didn't sound like… why would he do that? Why wouldn't he stay with them?

"There's water on the table." Hermione pointed at a packaged bottle beside his head. Percy pushed off the mattress, sitting up. His body felt weak, hands shaking, cold sweat all over his back and neck.

There was a bandage on the back of his neck. Percy reached his fingers to touch the cloth, pressing on it. Nothing hurt.

"The Healer said you got burnt…" Neville explained. "It was bad, so they put a dressing on it. I think you can take it off now. How's your leg?"

The leg didn't hurt. Nothing hurt. Percy felt like bashing his head against the wall, but nothing physically hurt.

He didn't like this feeling. It was a like a vacuum in his gut, pulling him down, through the earth, making the numbness grow, making odd visuals appear in his peripheral vision, showing him a weight that he couldn't be rid of, a weight that wouldn't go away for a long time.

It hurt. Percy took a breath and realized that it did hurt. He wasn't sure where exactly the pain was. But it was in his head. It was real.

"Percy –"

"Where's my mom?"

Hermione looked stricken and it made Percy's heart stop for a horrifying moment.

"Sirius took a hard hit," Fred said, slowly. "She's talking to one of the Healers… There's an Auror with her, she's okay."

 _She's okay. She's okay. She's okay._

Percy grabbed the bottle and drained half the water. He needed something to settle him. The water barely helped.

"Do you have a mirror?" Percy asked. His voice seemed to scrap against his throat, struggling to push the words out.

"The two way mirror?" Neville winced. "I think it was in your room in the safe house."

 _My room. The one I share (shared) with DJ. In the safe house, that's (supposed to be) the safest place in all of UK._

He wondered if the house was even standing now. Was the Fidelius charm gone, exposing it to everyone?

"Wait a sec?" Ron jumped up and ran to the door, opening it.

"Hey, any of you got a mirror?"

One of the Aurors did, in fact, have one. Ron took it and handed over to Percy who stared at his reflection.

The bottle of water had helped clear the grime of his face. He looked okay. But his eyes were less blue, more a dim green, muted as though the light was filtering out.

He gripped the edges of the mirror and said, "Annabeth Chase."

The others stared at him, wide eyed.

Annabeth's face appeared in the mirror. She looked up at Percy and all he could see was how anxious and worried she'd been, while he'd had done his best to avoid facing her, avoid telling the truth.

"Is Nico there?" he asked, voice breaking.

"Pe…Nico? What, no! We haven't seen him or you in days! Percy, what's wrong? Did something happen?"

Percy wanted to answer her. But saying it out loud would make it irreversible.

 _ **DJ wasn't in the room because it was likely he was in the morgue.**_

He felt the burn in his eyes, felt the tears obscure his gaze of Annabeth.

"It's my fault. I should've told you." Percy said, stuttering past the sudden gasp that bubbled up. He tried to blink away the tears, but they just kept coming, leave hot tracks down his face.

Ginny stood up, sudden and noisy because a complimentary vase with flowers that had been kept on the table, was jostled, crashing to the floor, breaking into a hundred pieces.

" _It is not your fault!"_ She hissed, glaring at Percy, flames alight in her eyes.

He felt slow to react, the numbness contaminating his limbs. The room grew uncomfortably hot. One of the twins got to his feet, alarmed at her reaction.

"Ginny – !" He said, but Ginny stalked towards Percy, fists clenched, the air around her body moving as though heated by fierce iron.

" _It's his!_ " She screamed. " _Don't take away the blame from him! You don't deserve that and none of us can afford it!"_

Her voice was shrill, striking heat back into his veins, waking his frozen muscles, it seemed. It hurt, but not in the way Tom's magic had ever done so. This pain was new. It made him feel startlingly alive.

Ginny raised a hand, poking his chest with a burning finger. _"We will make him answer for this. We can't do that if you think it's your fault. What happened to DJ wasn't an accident! It was murder! AND TOM WILL PAY FOR IT!"_

Her hair threw up sparks, her voice trembled and Percy inhaled, leaning away from the flames. Ginny steadied herself, tried to say something else, but nothing came up. Her eyes widened as though she'd realised she'd done something wrong.

Without another word, Ginny ran out of the room, yanking open the door and rushing past the stunned Aurors. One of the followed her while another peeked into the room to gauge, what he probably thought was six speechless faces.

"Stay in." He said and shut the door.

Percy touched his face, feeling the tears evaporate from Ginny's tirade. He looked down and saw Annabeth, staring up, incredibly shocked, mouth open.

"Percy…" Hermione's voice shook, the silence ceasing again. "Did you understand that?"

Understand? Yeah, Ginny had made it very clear. Logically, it was Tom's fault. But Percy wasn't clear of any blame, couldn't she see that? There would be fingers pointed at him. That wasn't avoidable.

But she was completely right about one thing. Tom will pay for it.

* * *

 **(Slinks away.) There you go. Stay tuned, everyone. Two or three chapters to go!**

 **Q: Well... What d'you think about the Nagini/Korean character controversy?**

 **Cabba.**


	56. Penultimate Recourse

**A: Yeah, CoG is has some very problematic issues, not only within the story but also the reality surrounding it. Its sketchy representation and lack of accountability just make me cringe.**

 **Catie Cat: Clear opinion. Nice. I think all after life matters are the same, it just looks different to people of different cultures. Since DJ knows about the Ancient Greek Underworld, that's hwere he'll see himself.**

 **evenstarlily: Good catch. Nico did take the galleons for a reason. I might not write that immediately, but will definitely explain it sometime.**

 **Lily among the trees: Yup.**

 **percyjacksonfan135: Thanks!**

 **Munaamohamed05: Wow, you read fast!**

 **Warning: Swearing, violence, some confusion.**

 **Listening to:** _ **The Water**_ **by Hurts**

* * *

 _It looked like a hospital, Rachel thought. The wide corridors, the burnt walls that had previously been in pale colours… she'd been here before._

 _Why did she keep seeing these corridors? Why did she keep hearing sobs through the walls?_

" _You lied." Percy whispered. Rachel pushed open the door to Harry's room, found the overturned cot, the ripped curtains, the destroyed room. Snow fell from the hole in the ceiling and Percy was looking up at her from his crouch on the floor, cradling DJ in his arms._

 _No… that wasn't right…_

" _You said he's coming back." Percy insisted, voice shaking. Rachel's blood ran cold, her breath turned to ice. White mist came as vapour, dissolving into the silent air._

" _I thought you were a friend, Rachel." Percy continued, trying to hoist DJ up, but the body was clumsy and heavy to move. "You lied to me."_

" _I didn't…" She began, voice trailing off. She couldn't look away from DJ's face. It didn't make any sense. She could have sworn that it was Harry. She'd had this vision several times before, it had always been Harry, hadn't it?_

 _She'd never seen his face, though. Only the messy hair._

" _This isn't real." Rachel said, backing away from Percy. She exited the room, staring at Percy's unflinching gaze. "It's not. Harry's gonna wake up, and DJ's fine."_

 _The door creaked closed and Rachel pressed her back to the wall, breathing heavily. It was only in her head. She was just imagining this._

" _It's not real." She whispered, letting her head touch the dust covered wall. "It's only a dream… or a vision. It's not real."_

 _Someone sighed. Rachel's body seized for a moment, head swinging to her left._

 _The large mirror, embedded into the adjacent wall, at the end of the corridor, loomed over her. Past the wide cracks on the surface, she stared at the reflection in it. It wasn't her reflection, though._

 _Harry watched her, leaning sideway against the wall to face her. He was in his Hogwarts uniform, the standard white shirt and black pants. The front of his shirt was a dirty red, almost brown colour, like that of dried blood._

 _His jaw was stiff, a painful frown on his face, his eyes glowing a sharp vicious green. It reminded her of the painting of the Voldemort in his human form._

 _Except, this was Harry. She was sure it was him. There was a tick in his face that made one of his eyes twitch, like he was restraining himself from flinging through the mirror and march on a warpath. Even so, he seemed sad like he was struggling to get the right words out._

 _Rachel backed away, heart thudding. She could see his aura emerging from his arms, surrounding his body in a dim green glow that illuminated the black vapour as well._

" _Rachel…" Harry called, voice echoing from another realm. "You of all people should know what visions really mean."_

* * *

Remus found Sally sitting on a bench outside the operating theatre. She sat motionless, back against the cold wall, fingers digging into her stomach as though she could physically will the healers to fix Sirius and bring DJ back.

Feeling like his insides were torn, like he was moments away from a transformation. Remus bounded towards Sally, kneeling down to look at her. When the house had exploded, he hadn't been able to do much, other than send a Patronus out to the Order before apparating Hermione away after a stunning spell had hit her. He had complete faith in Molly and Arthur when they'd insisted on him taking their children to safety, while they could fire curses at the enemy downstairs…

By the time they'd been brought to the hospital, Remus already knew of the damage that had been inflicted, not only upon the house, but on the kids as well.

He knew he was in shock. It was like a reflex – losing someone so suddenly that your brain hasn't really caught up to reality. Remus had been through that before.

Choosing to compartmentalize now, he focused on Sally, watched her eyes shift from the floor to his own, saw the stricken horror and pain in them. He let her curl up in his arms, feeling her body shake.

He could cry later, anyways.

"They're trying…" She sobbed. "Trying to fix… him… but… but, the spell's… they don't know what spell… internal bleeding, she said… Sierra… Sierra talked to the Healer… she said, she'd explain it, but something's wrong… I know it!"

She crumpled the front of his shirt, burying her face beside his neck. Remus closed his eyes, trying not to picture it, but the image came up anyway. He saw from afar, saw Sirius gasping for air as they apparated him to the hospital. He had been practically convulsing on the spot, startling everyone, putting everyone on edge.

He knew the problem. No one knew what curse it had been. Remus had experience with such things, had seen non-verbal, wandless magic, messing with unnatural and illegal curses, changing the behaviour and characteristics to such an extent that a straight forward cure was impractical. Victims of such devastation generally took months to recuperate, if they did survive.

The worst part was that Sirius most probably knew DJ was gone. Despite the pain, he must have been conscious enough to hear the people around him talk about it. Remus was sure that wouldn't be of any help.

"He promised!" Sally hiccupped into his chest. Remus looked down, feeling his eyes burn.

"He promised he wouldn't leave!"

"He won't." Remus said, surprising himself. "Sirius is tough –"

"What if –"

"You won't be alone, Sally." Remus squeezed her tighter. He knew she felt like someone was ripping her apart, because that's how he felt. "I'm not leaving. We're going to wait for Sirius, okay?"

She didn't say anything else, sobbing in agony. Remus held her till her hiccups stopped and she started to take longer, measured breaths to steady herself.

"Where… kids?"

"Room 207." Remus muttered, feeling his entire body ache, the sensitivity hitting his bones. "There are Aurors guarding the door."

"Percy?"

"Sleeping. The nurse that checked them said he was more exhausted than hurt. She recommended bed rest."

Hurt merely meant physical ache. Remus still felt as though he'd lied to her.

Sally sucked in another breath. "Nico?"

Remus winced. She must have felt it, because Sally peeled her sticky forehead off from his shirt and looked at him, already starting to panic.

"He left right after the kids were settled in the room." Remus explained, knowing there was no way Sally would feel comforted by it. "He might have gone to camp… to be away for a bit. Besides Percy, he's the only one who can leave the city limits."

Sally swallowed, leaning against the seats. Her shoulders slumped, eyes half-lidded from fatigue.

Remus tried not the grimace. "Sal… did they assign you to a room? Shall I –"

"I have to wait…"

"I'll wait. You'll be the first to know when he wakes up. You need to sleep."

Her expression stiffened. "I'm not leaving."

"But –"

"I don't want to be alone!" She insisted and he could hear the pitch of fear in her voice. It struck him like a hex and Remus gave a quick nod.

"Okay. Sorry, I just…"

"Like you said," She continued, looking up the doors which led to the operating theatre. "We're gonna wait for Sirius. We'll do that together."

* * *

They wouldn't let Ginny go down to the sub level 1. That's where the mortuary was. That's where they would have kept DJ.

She imagined him alone in a cold, dark room, with strangers standing around him, talking about him like he couldn't hear them, couldn't feel. (He couldn't.)

Auror Lancoris stood right behind Ginny as she stared at the elevator doors. Lancoris had told her that visitors couldn't go below the ground floor.

But Ginny wasn't a visitor! She was his friend, she had to bring him back up where it was warmer. He probably didn't have his jumper, he'd be freezing down there.

 _Stop thinking like that_ , she shrieked in her head. DJ doesn't need a jumper. He won't feel the cold. He was –

Ginny brought her palms up to bury her face in it. She could feel the sob building up in her raw throat, could feel it want to break out. She wanted to scream, wanted to set something on fire, wanted to burn Tom off the face of the planet.

She was so close… the fire was so close to the surface. All she had to do was let it go, let the flame rage all around her and exterminate everything in its path.

May be DJ would feel warm then.

"Ms. Weasley." The Auror's voice was sudden and alarmed. "Do you have your portkey?"

"…no."

"Then I suggest we leave the building. If you can't control –"

"I can!" She bit her lip and clenched her fists, willing to clear her head, forcing the rage down. Think about something else, think about… about Luna. About Colin… what would she tell them? How could she tell them, their best friend was gone?

Think about Rachel, her soft hands, pretty laugh, shining eyes, Rachel who would be devastated if she knew what happe –

Think about Harry –

Think about Hogwa –

Think about Quid –

Think about something that shouldn't hurt!

Everything hurt. Ginny felt a cry wrack her body, jostling her tense muscles. No matter how much she tried to hold still, it didn't work. She was breaking from the inside out. Someone was tearing her into pieces.

"… easley!" Lancoris's hand clamped down on her shoulder. Ginny felt the tight grip break her out of her haze.

"Do you need me to remove you from the situation?" The Auror asked, a kind of ferocity in her tone. She was watching Ginny, not flinching away from the orange vapour that was slowly emanating from her body.

Ginny stared at her, trying to fix the right words to make a proper sentence. It took a while to respond.

"I want to go home."

That hadn't been what she was going to say, but that was what had spilled out. It was the truth, too. She hadn't been at the Burrow in ages. That was the only place she would feel safe, and may be partly fixed. It's not like she could go back to the castle… or the safe house.

Lancoris nodded slowly. "Okay. If I take you back to the room, will you promise to stay there? I can go and call your parents."

Ginny inhaled, feeling traitorous for breathing. "Yeah."

They took the waiting elevator. Ginny stood by the wall, string at her reflection in the shiny steel doors as they closed. When Lancoris pressed the button to the second floor, Ginny felt a gust of _cold_ sweep right through her.

She shuddered, her entire body freezing up for a horrifying second. The Auror turned to her, eyes wide.

"Ms. Weasley?"

Ginny shut her eyes, trying to force the icy pain away. "It's alright… it just… it felt like…"

The elevator stuttered, slowing to a stop, both the occupants stumbling. The lights went out and a dim red glow filled the area. Ginny stepped away from the door, heart racing.

Lancoris took out her wand, throwing an arm out to hold Ginny away from the door. She tapped the tip of her wand to the console on the side, but the box didn't move.

Ginny felt a shiver run up her spin, again. She gasped. "No!"

She knew what this was. She knew why she was cold and distraught. It was the same feeling she'd had in the second year, on the train to Hogwarts, right before the Dementors had boarded.

* * *

Sierra Calles had just finished talking to the Healer in charge of Sirius Black, when the screaming began. She stumbled towards the corridor, catching sight of Sally and Remus, obviously waiting for news about Sirius, but all three turned towards the end of the corridor where there were at least a small crowd of people running.

Remus stood up, "What – "

One of the nurses rushed towards a red box in the wall, directing a spell at it. The glass broke and the hospital was plunged in flashing red lights. Sierra felt her heart plummet.

" _Evacuate!"_ The nurse called. "Apparation and floo stations on every floor is open, go to the safe points!"

"What's going on?!" Sally cried.

"Breach!" Sierra whispered. "The patients –"

"Desiree's opened the portkey designations." The nurse explained, already sweating. "You can't wait, just go!"

Sierra mentally ran through the procedure requirement in case of a hospital wide evacuation. There were at least ten Aurors in the building, so that should help, but was the emergency –

"What's the breach?" Remus demanded, the nurse was already running to the other end to call other rooms.

"Sentient creature, class XXXX!" The man hollered before disappearing from sight.

Sierra felt a wave of icy breathe surround her body. She shook, wrapping her arms around.

Remus choked. "Dementors?!"

"WHAT?!" Sally shrieked.

The Healer whipped around and ran back into the theatre. "Leary, place all patients under stasis! Activate portkeys! Clear all occupancies! I'm going to the Corridor!"

The special corridor had only one patient at the moment, very dead, but not _dead_ dead.

She apparated to the fifth floor, pushing past the other healers and nurses who were helping the long term ward patients. She cancelled the safety gate outside the doors and headed inside.

The corridor was silent and bright, untouched by the chaos that was spreading through the hospital. Sierra reached the room, pushing open the door and locking it from the inside.

The sole problem with the special corridor was that the rooms were not accompanied by their own emergency portkeys. She would need to switch Harry onto another bed. If she could get into one of the service elevators with him, it should work.

The elevators could only be operated by authorized personnel. The dementors shouldn't be able to get to them.

Sierra peered passed the blue bubble shield that kept her patient safe. Harry still look pale. He looked like he could be asleep, but his body was too frozen, too stiff for such a natural state. The pulse recorder around his wrist was blank.

She removed the shield and brought out a pair of black scrubs, the only piece of clothing available in the room. A quick charm later, she shifted him from his cot to a smaller spelled gurney.

"Come on, kid. You're not waking up to this shit." Sierra whispered, her breath turning to white mist. The glass in the window fogged up.

Sierra straightened her back, turning around and pointing her wand at the entrance, right at a tall, hooded figure, torn black robes covering its body. Its feet were hidden, hovering inches from the floor. Ice had already filled the sides of the wall, growing with a crackling sound that unnerved Sierra, but not as much as the being itself.

* * *

Percy felt the cold and saw Ron stand up at the same time. He had a look of uncertainty and slowly growing fright.

"Fred?" Ron called. "Is it just me, or…"

"It's getting colder." Hermione's shoulders shook. She looked worried.

Fred and George stood up and walked towards the door. But before they could open it, one of the Aurors burst through, eyes wide, face pale.

She began to count to beds in the room.

"Excuse me?" Hermione called. "Why is the temperature –"

"Eight beds! Is that boy back?" The Auror asked, cutting across her.

"Nico? No, what's –"

"Stay here, a nurse will come by to activate the portkeys. Don't leave this room!" She ordered and exited, shutting the door.

Neville frowned. "St. Mungo's is temperature regulated. It shouldn't be this bad."

George walked to the door and tried to open it. It didn't budge.

"Are you serious?" He demanded. "They locked us in!"

The half-filled bottle beside Percy shook, as the water in it turned to ice. Everyone stared at it in silence. Percy felt the cold seeping into his skin slowly, like it had a mind of its own like it wanted to bury him.

"Tell me that's not what I think it is," Hermione said, breathless.

Percy gulped. He'd heard about this. He'd heard about this mostly from Tom, from one of his plans that involved the guards of Azkaban.

He jumped from his bed and ran to the door. George stood back, saying, "If they spelled it close –"

The handle turned in Percy's grip. There was a click and he pulled the door open.

The hallway was filled with a red blinking light. It was even colder out here. The white walls felt frigid and uncaring as the temperature dipped again.

"Where are the Aurors?" George hissed, peering out with Percy.

"Distraction," Percy whispered. "Tom's here."

He could almost feel the sudden stab of fright that hit everyone. His own fear tripled at the mention of the name.

"How … how… how could you know …that?" Neville stammered.

"It was one of his back up plans. To use dementors and distract everyone while he went for a horcrux. They listen to him. They're afraid of him."

"WHY are they in the hospital?!" Hermione shrieked. Ron tried to shush her, but she slapped his arm away.

"I don't know!"

"Is he here for Harry?" Fred asked, eyes wide in horror. "He already took the horcruxes from the house, you said that."

Percy thought back, trying to ward away the cold fog that was filling up in his head. He thought back to that moment when he was looking down at DJ, waiting for him to get up. Tom's voice echoed in his head.

"… _your little bracelet has a lot more than meets the eye. Wouldn't it be interesting to find out?"_

Percy turned towards Hermione. "Where you there when the Healer gave me a check-up?"

"Huh? Yeah."

"What did he say?"

"He…" Hermione frowned. "He said you got caught in a stunning curse by one of the Order members. Tom had apparated away…"

"No, did he say anything about me getting hit by a curse that didn't actually affect me?" He asked, his voice raising. The annoyance was combating the fear away.

Ron raised an eyebrow. "That was really specific. Yeah, he did. Apparently, Tom tried to Imperius you, but it didn't take."

An Imperius curse? The curse that made one bend to the will of the caster. That didn't work on Percy?

Was it because of the bracelet? Tom had mentioned his interest in it before, he'd stayed away from the topic…

Things were different now. If he was interested in something that could repel curses away like it could repel death itself, anyone with the bracelet was in danger.

Percy's first thought was Rachel, alone with no magic, in a place with no protection.

But why bother with her, when there was already a victim, who could not fight back in anyway?

"He's going after Harry. He wants the bracelet. I… I have to get to him!"

Ron started, "Whoa, wait! Why –"

Hermione joined in, "You can't go alone!"

"Fuck," Fred whispered, staring down the corridor. Percy swivelled and froze in his spot.

The hallway had emptied during the tirade. There was also a dementor perched at the very end of the track, at least twenty feet away. It was motionless, staring at them, through the hood that covered its face.

 _Mom_ , Percy thought. She'd be upstairs, waiting for Sirius to get out of surgery. Percy had no idea if she was safe, or unaware of what was happening.

"Why is it waiting?" Neville whispered. Percy saw that the dementor hadn't moved from its spot.

Hermione said, "Can we run to the stairs? It's behind us, next to the elevator."

"But this room has portkeys."

"Only the staff can activate them!"

"Where's Ginny?" Ron asked urgently.

"She's with an Auror, they probably got out."

"Guys!" Percy hissed. Another dementor had joined the first one, both of them hovering at the endof the turn, watching them carefully. Percy felt the temperature in the entire building drop by a few degrees.

"No, no, no, no." Hermione grabbed Ron's arm. "What do we do?"

Percy touched his pocket. His sword had still not returned. Tom had apparated away from Grimmauld Place with Riptide. When Percy had awoken, he'd panicked at the absence of his sword. He still had his dagger, but Riptide was something that had always been assured to come back to him.

Could he take down two dementors with a dagger? He still felt weak, not up to mark to control enough water. But Ron could do that.

"Ron. How much water is in the pipes?" He whispered.

Ron gulped. "There's some. But it's already frozen. I can make water, though."

"That won't work." George hissed. "These things guard Azkaban. They live right above the ocean. They'll just freeze anything that comes close to them."

"What about fire?" Neville asked, curling close to Percy.

"Won't work. You can't light anything too close to them. It'll just die."

The cold worsened and Percy saw that two more dementors had joined the first and the second.

"We need to get out," George whispered.

The dementors started to approach them. The lights flickered and turned off as they crossed the hallway, foot by foot. The floor seemed to turn shiny, the thinnest layer of ice building up and covering the tiles and the walls.

Percy curled his toes and broke his fear away from the spot. "Run!"

As one, the six of them ruched from the door, scrambling to reach the stairs. Hermione pressed the button on the elevator but the blinking numbers didn't change.

"What're you doing?!" Ron roared.

"Just tryin – forget it!"

Percy started ascending the stairs, leaping across multiple steps.

"Per – ground floor, Percy!" Fred yelled.

"I have to see if my mom –"

"If she got out –"

"I have to!" Percy shouted, already reaching the third floor. He pushed the door open and saw that the circular hallway was barely filled with possibly four or five people rushing about.

They were clearing out all the patients. Percy ran in, yelling, "Mom!"

There was no answer. He stopped in front of the main theatre, debating on whether to go in when one of the harried nurses caught him.

"Hey! What… you need to leave! There's been a breach!"

"I know!" Percy told him. "We saw the dementors on the second floor. But my mom's up here!"

The nurse seemed to sweat on command. The lights above them started to flicker as well. Percy felt the cold trying to take over his body again and squinted.

"Desiree! Get out, they're here!" The nurse yelled, running away from Percy.

Swearing under his breath, Percy broke into the operating theatre. The short corridor had been emptied, one trolley of upturned vials sitting by the door. The rooms inside were also lacking people.

"Maybe they did get out," Percy said to himself. Should he search the place? Should he go to the fifth floor and get to Harry?

The door to his right rattled insistently. Percy jumped, turning around and bringing his dagger to defend himself, but the doors blew open, a gust of freezing air hitting him in the face. Percy felt the ice throw him back bodily. He slammed against the floor and the breath was extinguished from his lungs.

He didn't know what kind of powers dementors had. Apparently, summoning Arctic wind was one of them.

His dagger turned cold, the handle painful to even grasp, but Percy didn't dare drop it. His back ached and he felt the fog settled on him, making him think of Tom's plans, of the moment, just a few hours ago when he fell with DJ, when he saw the green curse snuff the life out of him.

His hands were shaking. Percy dropped his dagger. He couldn't hear it clatter on the floor. The wind was making white noise erupt everywhere. The ice was climbing up his skin and into his mouth, moving into his body, killing him, turning him into stone from the inside out.

Two dementors hovered above him, tilting their heads down. Percy was gasping, trying to draw in proper air, but every inhale felt like poison, burning down his windpipe.

A skeletal hand with barely there skin stretched over the visible bones, a hand that had decayed in the water, reached out. It turned the air white and vicious, fingers moving in a curve as it reached for his throat. Percy tried to move away, tried to force his legs to kick the hand out of the way, tried to put weight on his arms to crawl away, but the fog was solid and kept him prisoner.

There was nothing except for the look of surprise in DJ's face. Nothing else was real. The floor fell away, the fog was the only thing Percy'd know.

The bony hand wrapped long fingers around his throat, squeezing and dragging him upwards. He couldn't breathe. DJ looked surprised. The ice was in his heart. His lungs were filled with fog. The dementors opened its mouth.

From far away, something pricked his arm. It surrounded his bicep like a sharp nail pulling at his skin. The warmth devolved into a short sting of pain that cleared some of the fog and made him blink.

The dementor had teeth. Percy heard the rattling suck of air as its face loomed over his own. He panicked, muscles suddenly unfreezing for some reason. Percy let out a scream, throwing a foot upwards to kick the dementor's jaw upwards.

The thing snarled, making Percy's entire world shake from the terror. The hand around his throat slipped but tightened, squeezing so hard, he saw dull spots in the grey fog.

Then, his bracelet grew warm again. This time, deep blue light erupted from it. The air right in front of him exploded, but he felt no pain. He heard a shriek cut through the fog in his head, and someone materialised in front of him, thrown from the bracelet, it seemed.

Percy opened his eyes and saw Rachel, thrown into the air, her body crashing into both dementors. All three bodies fell at least ten feet away from him.

The fog seemed to disappear and the lights were brighter. The hallway came into view and Percy gasped, hands touching his throat and feeling nails scratches around it.

"Rachel!" He yelled, getting to his feet. He grabbed his dagger and threw it.

Rachel sat up, disoriented. Her eyes widened when the dagger passed through her mortal form harmlessly but slammed into one of the dementors' chests.

She screamed again, scrambling to her feet to get away from the creatures. From her shoulder, Bolt appeared, leaping down to the floor in her tiger form. The low growl made the other dementor hesitate about moving towards them.

"What?" Rachel gasped. "What's going on?"

Percy caught her hand, to stare at her bracelet, glowing blue. The moment his eyes caught up to hers, the lights in the hallway cracked.

There was a sound of an explosion from somewhere above them. Percy yanked Rachel to the side as the building seemed to shake. But the only real thing that happened was the lights had gone out, plunging them all into darkness.

* * *

On the fifth floor, Harry sucked in a long awaited breath of air.

* * *

Tom was in a service elevator. He felt his form change, unable to hold for more than a few seconds. The constant shifting nature made him irritated beyond belief. He hadn't realised how much he'd relied on Percy's aura. It had been wonderful feeding off of it, there was a high to it. But he'd hoped he had stuck around long enough to maintain a something close to an actual tangible body.

He had slung the locket around his own neck. He was solid enough for that. Placing the pen form of Ritpide into an inner pocket in his coat, he brought out Marvolo's ring. The thin band had a black jewel on it, scratches clear on its surface. If Tom tilted his head, he could almost see a triangle from the random etching.

That was interesting.

The elevator jostled and came to a standstill. Red light filled the narrow space. Tom frowned. He closed his eyes, hand curling around the ring to draw a tiny bit of its power.

The elevator blinked white light again and began to move upwards. Keeping a firm hold on the ring, Tom waited as he reached the fifth floor and the doors opened.

He stepped out when a sharp point of blue caught his eye. He turned to the right to look back at the service elevator console. The elevator beside the one he had exited had just reached the ground floor. Tom frowned at it. The lower floors should have the dementors circling it. They wouldn't use the lift. The chances of a person using it were slim. But maybe someone had gotten lucky.

The hallway was clear, so he focused on that for now. He walked right up to the space in the centre that had the shield protecting the entrance to the special corridor.

Tom delighted in rolling his eyes. It seemed like nobody knew how to properly incorporate a regular rune locking mechanism into everyday shields. A flaw in any culture it seemed, not being able to make proper wards.

He barely cancelled it, before walking through. Fifty years had done nothing for the progress of witches and wizards, except ensure that they could stay as lazy as possible.

The corridor was quiet. The unsettling thing was that there was a dementor lying right outside one of the open rooms. Tom stood right by it, examining the dead dementor.

Interesting. Its head was tilted at an extreme angle. Someone had actually managed to snap its neck.

Tom could think of very few people who could achieve such a feat. He steeled himself and slipped his grandfather's ring onto his finger. Being fed by two horcruxes was dangerous. It was a precaution for now. Clearly, things couldn't go easy for him. He had expected Harry to still stay in the land of the dead.

He stepped over the body and surveyed the damage wrecked to the room. Three dementors lay dead by the wall adjacent to him. Tom saw the upturned bed, as though someone had hurled it at the creatures. Smart. Crushing their skulls would be just as effective as a Patronus, he guessed.

Harry was missing. There were no personal effects in the room. The wall had cracked beside the window, the shelf had been upturned, spilling several vials of glowing liquids on the floor. They let out some of the only light in the room, beside the soft sunrays that streamed through the window from the dull evening.

The air around him shimmered under a sharp green glow. Tom stiffened. It wasn't his magic.

He turned around and felt two hands grab the front of his coat. And his shirt.

And Riptide.

The pen stayed in Harry's grasp, but Tom went flying into the opposite wall. The ring threw up a barrier over his body and he merely created a dent in the paint and bricks.

Tom shook himself out of the wall and landed on the floor with a grunt. At the climax, he stood up and found himself facing a thoroughly pissed off Harry Potter whose eyes were glowing green. His body was surrounded by green and black vapour, his aura pulsing all through the room. Harry clicked the pen and Riptide grew in his hand, extending to form the three foot long double edged sword, looking almost as dangerous in his hand as much as it did in Percy's.

He glowered at Tom, shoulders back, arms astride, feet wide; ready for a duel.

The room crackled with energy. Tom felt his own aura clashing against Harry's, the red battling the green, the black settling on them to make the windows shake.

Tom shook the dust off his coat and stood to his full height. "Round two?"

* * *

 **Before you say 'What, another attack', this was all planned, okay? This is the last one in this story, so… stay tuned.**

 **Q: What are the shortcomings of the Fidelius charm?**

 **Cabba.**


	57. Under Fire

**A: The Fidelius Charm has its shortcomings, alright. The more people are allowed in the house, the weaker the charm works. (Dilutes the strength.) You can't cast the charm with anyone in it. The strength of the charm depends on trust (which should be a good thing, but it can go horribly wrong as well).**

 **Catie Cat: Yeah, it's a glaring thing. It makes it sound that the charm is fool proof, but it really isn't. Yup, Harry's back. And he's going to find out about DJ.**

 **Irresponsible101: Hey, you've changed your name :) You're right. If the current secret keeper dies, everyone who have been told about the address, will be the new secret keepers. Dumbledore is the secret keeper of Grimmauld Place, but he doesn't feature much in this story.**

 **Lady among the trees: That's a good way to put it! A Fidelius charm does work as good as the person guarding it. There are few variables to include. The action continues!**

 **I got excited about this chapter and posted it early.**

 **Note: There are several POV shifts for this chapter in the short timespan that it takes place. It basically means that when one scene is happening, the next section may have a long scene that could be taking place at the same time as the previous one, or it could have a short scene that has taken / is taking / will next take place. You can figure it out. Enjoy.**

 **Warning: Violence, Character Death.**

 **Listening to:** _ **Wildfire**_ **from La Belle Epoque**

* * *

Ginny winced as Lancoris managed to wedge open the doors of the elevator. They sneaked out into the red lit hallway of the hospital. They were on the first floor, in the regular sized lounge for visitors. But the deadly silence was deafening and Ginny took out her wand, feeling the left over traces of icy breath in the air.

"Stay by me." Lancoris whispered, holding out an arm to curb Ginny's worry.

The door to the stairs had been jammed by a tray. Lancoris tried to remove it, but it kept creaking, drawing a lot of attention to them.

How long had they been stuck in the lift? Ginny wondered. The hospital sounded empty of life.

Lancoris swore and turned back, gesturing Ginny to follow her to the other side of the hall. They crossed the lounge and walked into the interior space where the hospital rooms lay. There were abandoned trolleys by the sides of the doors and some of the rooms were open to show spilled papers and vials. Many of the beds were missing. The eeriness struck Ginny to her core. Her hands shook and she tightened her grip on her wand.

A distant sound of a wall crumbling could be heard. The pair froze by the wall, waiting for the noise to subside. Was the building coming down?

"Emergency stairs." Lancoris hissed, dragging the fourteen year old to one of the corners of the corridor.

Even before they reached the back door, Ginny felt ice build-up in the air. She stopped in her tracks, grabbing the back of the Auror's robes.

"They're coming up!" Ginny whispered urgently. She could almost feel her warm breath turn to mist.

Lancoris didn't doubt her, stepping away from the side. Both froze when the air thickened at the bottom, turning into dull white fog.

"Shit!" She swore and caught Ginny's arm, pulling her away from the stairs. They ran back, taking another turn before the lounge. Emergency light on the floors led them to a smaller room. Lancoris took a quick peak through the unlocked door and said, "Come on, Weasley!"

Ginny made the mistake of turning back to looking behind them.

The end of the hallway was filled with dementors. Her heart felt like lead as she gazed at the sight of at least five hooded creatures lingering at the end. The white fog was distressing, filling the long hallway slowly and surely.

"Let's go!" Lancoris hissed. Ginny was already panicking, but let the Auror pull her into one of the service elevators.

The box was smaller than the regular lift, and the console was broken. Lancoris jammed the buttons, muttering, "No, no, no!"

The button for floor 3 was the only one which lit up. The doors closed just before Ginny caught sight of the fog on the ground.

The elevator moved up and Ginny wished she could relax, but her entire body was still stiff.

"They're corralling us." Lancoris groaned. "We need to get out!"

"Ca… Can't you apparate?" Ginny exhaled.

"Not through the wards." She responded. "Damn it! If the hospital's evacuated, emergency protocol should be in place. There should be portkeys in every room!"

"But everyone would have taken them." Ginny said.

The elevator came to a stop, shaking ominously. The wires above them seemed to creak and Ginny swore her heart stopped beating for a terrifying moment.

The doors opened and Lancoris checked the vicinity. Giving her the all clear, the Auror stepped out and ran into two figures.

The suddenness of the intruders made Ginny screech.

Someone else was also screaming. It was a familiar sound and that made the witch freeze.

"Rachel?!" She gasped.

Her dark red tresses were in a heavy plait. She wore a casual t-shirt and denim trousers, neither of which was a uniform for sneaking into a magical hospital to face dementors.

"Ginny!" Rachel surged forwards to throw her arms around her. Ginny felt the chill melt away, her cheeks growing hot.

"Jackson!" Lancoris barked. "You… how did she… what're you still doing here?!"

Percy was the other person who'd been with Rachel. He was holding his dagger, but had frozen at the sight of the witches.

"We saw the dementors outside our room. A nurse was supposed to come and activate our portkeys, but there was no one. We had to run!" Percy protested. "My mom was here, but I can't find her –"

"We didn't see anyone either." Lancoris agreed. "And there are no bodies as well, which is the best case scenario in a situation like this. And who are _you_?"

Rachel stood back, still holding one of Ginny's hands. She had a deer-in-the-headlights look.

"Rachel Elizabeth Dare." She answered, shooting a small smile at Lancoris. "Um… I sort of just dropped by…"

Percy heaved a frustrated sigh, "It's a bracelet thing. She just appeared. Can you get her out?"

Ginny frowned. "We all need to get out, Percy. Or do you have other plans?"

"Harry's on the fifth floor." Percy almost snapped at her. "So's Tom. And from it sounds, they're having a face-off."

Percy was right. Ginny could hear muted sounds of what reminded her of thunder, echoing through the walls.

"Most of the Auror forces are outside the city…" Lancoris sighed. "They'll have to work to lift the wards."

"How long will that take?"

"Ten minutes. But resources are still spread out –"

The fog filled the corridor so fast that Ginny almost didn't notice. She saw a dark figure behind Rachel and shrieked, pulling her away, just as a grotesque, bony hand had reached out to grab her.

Lancoris pointed her wand at the looming dementors and cried, " _Expecto Patronum!"_

Sharp white mist erupted from the tip of her wand, creating a tall shield between them and the dementors. It stopped the creature in its tracks but the cold still tingled at Ginny's skin. Rachel's grip on Ginny's arm was almost painful. Percy backed away, breathing heavily and holding out his dagger like he wanted to throw it at the thing.

"Take the stairs!" Percy yelled, trying to push them back, but Ginny shook her head. "We can't! Something's blocking the doors on the first floor. And the elevators are broken!"

"How many are there?"

"I don't know! Many ten dementors –"

"No!" Percy caught Ginny's shoulder. "How many elevators?"

Lancoris grunted, stepping back, still holding up the non-corporeal Patronus shield. "A hospital this big should have more. Search the corners! Check the doors beside the staircases."

Behind Percy lay the corridor stretching all the way to the main staircase. Ginny was about to pull Rachel in that direction, but the dementor-fog took over them, descending from above. Ginny swung about, catching sight of two more creatures emerging from the hospital room behind them.

Rachel screamed when one of it caught her arm, it's dirty, ice like fingers clawing at her skin.

Ginny felt the blood in her veins freeze, especially when the brightness of Lancoris's spell dimmed. With every passing second, she felt as though she were breathing in pure ice mist.

Suddenly, a flash of green (or gold?) erupted from Rachel. It slammed into the dementor holding her.

Ginny had never head a dementor scream. She didn't even know it had a voice.

The magic pushed back the dementor. It dropped Rachel hand as it was thrown into the wall, as though nothing could hurt her, or should even try.

There was a growl and a crash as Bolt sprung out, leaping at the dementor that had just released Rachel. The 300 pound tiger crashed into the monster. They fell to the floor, Bolt ripping her sharp claws on its face.

Ginny could smell the desolation in the air. She gasped, stumbling back and nearly falling. Percy caught her shoulders, to help her stand.

Rachel turned around, clutching her arm in shock. She must have been in pain, but Ginny could barely think through the haze.

Lancoris's shield failed at the worst possible time. The light dissolved and the white fog grew, curling around their feet. Rachel moved away from the dementor Bolt had ravaged, her back touching Lancoris. Ginny and Percy moved towards the walls, finding more space.

"Bolt!" Percy yelled, eyes wide as though he'd only just realised that she existed. "Get them out!"

"Can't go outside!" The tiger yelled back, growling at the remaining creatures that were trying to block Rachel and Lancoris.

"Another floor!"

Someone swore and Rachel gasped. Her terrified eyes flew to look at Ginny, the distance between them increasing. Percy was dragging Ginny away from them, Lancoris yelled another spell in vain and Bolt's body began to glow in a bright gold beam.

With a flash that nearly burnt all the ice away, Bolt, Rachel, and Lancoris disappeared.

Percy said something in Ancient Greek, heaving Ginny up. The two dementors paused for a second, probably confused.

Then they turned to face Ginny and Percy.

"Time to go!" Percy huffed, kicking at Ginny's feet to get her moving. She complied, still half freezing. She couldn't think. There was something blocking the nerves in half her body. All she could do was follow Percy as they flew down the hallway, ending up beside a large door with the words 'Operating Theatre' printed on the top.

* * *

When Kingsley finally made it to the scene, the streets had already been cordoned off, leaving a radius of at least five meters from the hospital, empty.

Dementors in St. Mungo's. As if this day could not get any worse.

The sun was quickly setting, clouded skies turning a dim red. It suited the anxious air of the pedestrians, magical and muggle, who had been rushed away from the building. The hospital had practically, the entire block to itself, so no one had to worry about people in neighbouring buildings to be too close to the situation.

"Is the building clear?" Kingsley asked Dawlish, who had to turn away from the Head Healer.

"Is the bui… no! No, it's not clear!" Dawlish fumed. "Spells detected five persons inside!"

"Was it an evacuation oversight?"

"Nope. Well…, yes. Lancoris is still in there. She was with the Weasley girl. Then, there's a Healer Calles who hadn't answered the staff roll call. She had gone back for Potter, he's still on the fifth floor."

Kingsley closed his eyes. Not good, not good…

"The special corridor should have enough protection to keep dementors out –"

Dawlish was already shaking his head in frustration. "We did a building check. Many of the shields collapsed just the last portkeys were activated. I think there was someone actually waiting for the building to clear up. But who the hell would want to be stuck in a place that's teeming with _dementors_?"

There were crowds filling up on the other side of the road. Kingsley frowned, turning back to look at the top floor windows, trying to imagine Calles smuggling Harry out. What if she hadn't succeeded? Were they stuck inside? And what about Lancoris, she should be able to get Ginny out, but if they were unable to leave…

"You said five." Kingsley said, looking down at Dawlish again. "Who's the fifth?"

The Auror subordinate shrugged, irritated. "No clue. We've run by all the names possible. All patients except for Potter have been shifted to other clinics in the city. The only Healer left is Calles. Then there's Lancoris and Weasley… but there are definitely five people still inside, which means someone got in after the evacuation."

"The intruder who _sent_ in the dementors, you mean?"

Dawlish grumbled. "No one can actually control those things! How could anyone even convince them to leave Azkaban?!"

"Azkaban's miserable." Kingsley look up again. "Anyone strong enough can induce the creatures to go after fresh souls anywhere."

"Azkaban's several hundred kilometers from here. No regular wizard or witch can do that."

Kingsley frowned. He thought back to the spells Dawlsih had mentioned using…

"What charm did you use? To check for life inside?"

"Homenum Revelio."

That spell would not detect Tom Riddle, the spirit from the horcrux, if he was inside. And Kingsley had no trouble believing that Tom could summon the dementors and make them do his bidding.

So, was there another person inside the building?

"Did you check how many dementors are inside?"

Dawlish sighed. "Yes. But the spell got messed up. It kept coming back as two presences. We know for a fact there were multiple sightings –"

"Dementors are non-beings. Did you use the regular Ministry classification check up?"

Kingsley watched as a look of confusion took over Dawlish's face. "We did… but… then there are two beings that aren't human? Aside from dementors?"

The Head Auror cursed to himself, backing away from the building. He moved back to the curved line of people staring in and levitated the tape line to move under it.

From a distance he spotted Sally running towards him. Her look of anguish cemented his guess.

"King!" She cried, reaching him and grabbing his arm. "You have to let me in! Percy's in there!"

"He isn't human…" Kingsley muttered. "Sally, we can't let anyone in –"

"NO!" Sally protested. "You don't understand! Ron said that he was looking for me! But one of the nurses brought Remus and me out here. Percy doesn't know I'm out!"

"Sally! There are dementors in there. We cannot send untrained personnel inside! You need to wait –"

"BULLSHIT!" Sally screamed, pushing against him, but Kingsley held her arm, dragging her away. Remus should have been with her. He didn't want her to be alone. She might try to sneak in.

"Let go!" Sally cried. "I need to… I have to get him, King. Please!"

"Sally, listen to me." Kingsley brought her away from the crowds and leaned down to her eye level. She hung on to his every word. He could see the pleading in her eyes.

"I have an idea." He told her. "We need to get multiple people out. So, we need to send in a team who are least affected by dementors."

"SHACKLEBOLT!" Dawlish was shouting from the window store glass disguise of the hospital's entry. Kingsley turned around and found the man clutching the arms of someone wearing a Healer's white coat.

"Sierra!" Sally gasped, this time succeeding in yanking her arm away from Kingsley's grasp. She ran towards the pair who were waddling away from the hospital.

Healer Calles was shivering, unable to stand on her feet. Her eyes were closed and she was forcing in deep breaths to stay awake. Kingsley made space for Dawlish to lower her to the pavement where Sally dropped to her knees to catch Sierra's shoulder.

"Sierra! Where's Harry? Did you see Percy? Did you –"

"He woke…" Sierra gasped, struggling to speak. Kingsley could feel her icy skin. She must have come too close to the dementors. It was a miracle she'd escaped, if she hadn't been able to conjure a Patronus.

"Harry?" Sally demanded. "Harry woke up?!"

"Sent me down… the lift…"

"But why didn't he come with you?!"

Sierra sucked in another breath before answering, "Boy with… red eyes."

Sally stiffened and Kingsley held in a curse. What was Harry thinking? He couldn't face Tom head on. Especially when he didn't know what had just happened less than two hours ago.

"He close to losing control." Sierra wheezed. She caught Sally's elbow to continue, "His aura was fluctuating. When the dementors got too close to him, there was a pulse and it took out all the lights in the building. If he pushes it too hard, he can lose control and implode."

"Implode? What the hell does that mean?!"

"It's when the magic takes over." Kingsley explained, standing up. "When it reigns over him. We need to get him out. What stage is he in now?"

Sierra winced, sitting up properly. "Penultimate recourse. That might keep him alive against the red eyed one. But he won't be able to maintain it for long. He'll run himself down."

Sally groaned, rubbing her face harshly. "I don't know what… what about Percy? Did you see him?"

Sierra's look of surprise made Kingsley sigh.

"Sally, stay with her. Wait for Tonks. I'm calling back-up."

She looked up, stunned. "You said Albus wouldn't be able to make it –"

"Not him." Kingsley answered, conjuring a Patronus to send his hasty message. He hoped this plan would work.

* * *

Harry couldn't explain the energy that surrounded him. It flashed in curling vapours of green and black, lashing out at Tom whenever he wanted to attack him.

All he did know was that anger was helping him focus on the target. Tom was a very vivid target.

A very responsive one as well.

" _Crucio!_ "

The curse sprang from the red aura, grazing Harry's side as he tried to dodge it. There was a burst of pain, but not as damaging as he'd expected.

None of Tom's curses managed to actually cause a proper effect on him. It was as though he was impervious to everything the horcrux threw at him.

The curse still threw him off guard. Harry slammed into the floor, the air having been extinguished from his lungs.

Riptide was inflexible and lifeless in his hand. The sword looked damaged as though bits of it was covered in rust. But holding it made Harry feel protected. Like Percy was with him. Harry didn't have his wand, and no matter how many times he'd tried to summon it, it didn't come to him. Either it was destroyed or it was kept under rigorous lock and key.

The next curse sent out a wave of sharp white noise and Harry threw up a shield just in time to safeguard his ears. He rolled back to his feet and shot a slippery slope hex at the floor around Tom.

It made him smile to see Tom stumble for a second. But the answering barrage of curses was still not worth it.

The anger was running out. Harry relied on it too much, he needed to feel that fury to create stronger attacks.

" _Bombarda! Duro!"_

The wall behind Tom exploded, heavy chunks falling on top of him. But he moved to the side, levitated the debris and hurled it at Harry who leaped out into the corridor to escape the onslaught.

His breath was caught in his throat, working its way into a panic attack. Harry gritted his teeth. NOT NOW!

Every time Tom got too close, Harry swung the sword in an arc, the way he'd seen Percy do. Percy's move had been far more graceful. Riptide felt heavy in Harry's grip, pulling on his wrist more than he'd expected. He felt clumsy holding it, but had no other option. His dagger was too short to keep Tom away and he didn't feel like throwing it at him. He wasn't sure if it would even slow him down.

Tom's powers were unbelievable. Every attack that resulted in a hit ended up fixing itself. Harry saw first-hand how all the cuts on his skin, on his still flickering form, healed with red and black energy bleeding around it.

It was a worldly joke, Tom being a born healer and Harry was the punch line.

He grabbed one of the gurneys from another room and launched it at Tom. The horcrux smacked the bed away with nothing more than a grunt, crushing it into a large mass of iron and cotton.

Harry slammed the hilt of the sword against a glass window but it didn't even crack. Damn, nothing was going right!

"And here I thought you wanted a fight." Tom hummed, sending a broken trolley his way. Harry pushed away from the wall and sent a stunning curse at him.

"Why are you here?!" He yelled, trying to pause for a breath. Tom barely looked winded.

"I'm not here to kill you, Harry." Tom rolled his eyes, like he hadn't ever killed him before. "It's just… you don't understand."

Harry got to his feet, slipping his dagger out of its bracelet. If he needed to get out of the building, he'd have to get to the only entrance of the special corridor that was behind Tom.

"I don't?"

"No." Tom sighed. "You just… you have an all-powerful artefact with you. And yet you did nothing with it."

He was talking about the bracelet. Of course he was. Harry sucked in dust filled air and clenched his fists.

"That power is beyond anything you could _ever_ fathom." Tom approached him slowly. Harry walked just as carefully around a fallen shelf, putting hopefully enough distance between them.

"It brings you back from the dead! And you don't have the curiosity to understand what it is? You're a blight in my existence, Harry."

Harry scoffed. "Is that supposed to be an insult?"

Tom tilted his head towards him, smiling. "It's not a compliment. You're not worthy of such magic. Whatever being gifted you that bracelet, they were wrong. You don't deserve to live, because you don't take anything seriously. People ask you to stay at one place, you insist on breaking out. You think nothing can touch you, that you're impermeable. Death can never have you and so you throw away your life. You don't deserve that power because you don't have the slightest inclination of what you can achieve with it!"

The words were abrasive. Tom was scolding him. This went beyond irritation, he felt his hands shake from pure frustration.

"And what would you do with it?" He shot back. "What would you do if you never stayed dead? That's all you want, isn't it, _Tommy_? You'd be a plague with this kind of strength. And that's why you don't deserve it, either!"

"You're wrong." Tom stood still, eyes burning red in the dim room. "I, more than anyone, more than you, understand that power. It has its rules, it's restrictions in some ways, but the big picture is always clear. Without the inconvenience of death, you should find it within you to understand that your place in this world has shifted. And you haven't seen that. Instead, you use it for petty things such as _travelling_."

Harry almost laughed in his face. Of all the things to say... "Too bad. Clearly, this sort of power isn't something any Tom, Dick, or Harry can have."

Wiping the smile off of Tom's face with that phrase, Harry felt the room prick with growing tension. Tom's magic was fluctuating, pulsing in pattern-less moves. He was losing it.

"Something…" Tom began slowly, "… that you haven't taken into account is that you're going to live forever. Do you think you can handle that?"

"Seeing how that's what you wanted, I'm sure."

"Present tense, Harry. My version of immortality is a little different, but yours is god-given. Unless you beg that deity to take back the bracelet, you're here to stay."

That almost sounded like… Tom was praising Harry. Which couldn't be true. Harry frowned. "What're you getting at?"

Tom shrugged, looking so blasé it put him on edge. "Not everyone can stay with you. Did you think about that? You'll stay here while the world moves on. And since you're the kind of soul who believes in connections with others (he spat the word 'connections'), your eternity will be bleak. I know the drawbacks of immortality and I have taken measures to ensure I can withstand it. But you will crumble. You'll go mad within the decades. You'll pray for death and you will never have it. Your life will be a worthless one because you will _miss_ everyone you know."

There was something in his tone that made him pause. The way he spoke… Tom knew something.

"That kind of power is not something you want to play around, Harry. You don't understand it."

"And you do?" Harry retaliated, trying not to corner himself away from the door. "What do you know about the bracelet that I don't? I'm the one who's had it for ten years."

"And you've done nothing with it."

"Better than planning for world domination. I'm not a psychopath like you, Tommy. I'm not so damaged to believe that I should be _above_ everyone else."

Tom stopped, looking stunned. Harry felt surprised.

"Above every… I have to think differently, if I need to take my rightful place in the world." Tom hissed. "If that works against you, that's your problem. You think it's easy to know as much as I do, to be able to handle as much as _I_ can?"

"You handled shit!" Harry snapped. "You've been stuck in a locket in the basement of an abandoned house for more than fifty years! And your first bout of freedom was when you wriggled inside someone's mind like the pathetic worm you are!"

"FREEDOM?!" Tom roared. "No one's mind is free! You don't know what I had to do to get to where I am!"

"And I don't care! You're using another's strength to even keep yourself visible. You'll never be whole. You ripped your soul apart! You can never claim to understand that kind of power because you _chose to do that_!"

Harry barely exhaled from the shout when Tom's form vanished, reappearing right in front of him in a flash of red.

Harry yelled, trying to move, but Tom grabbed the sides of his head and screamed, " _You think it's easy to see inside a mind?! Let's see how you handle it!_ "

He couldn't even move, not even to raise the sword or his dagger, when his vision widened. Tom's face was so close to his, his red eyes growing larger, brighter, till Harry was swallowed by the light, falling into a long abyss. Snippets of scenes flew by.

He saw the basement, the locket held in a small wrinkled hand, Kreacher looking down at him. He saw dust falling from the ceiling of the basement as footsteps were heard, the first in decades. He saw Percy's face swimming in, expressions of confusion and contemplation appearing. The memories moved faster falling out of place, moving away from the timeline.

Harry saw Percy's room in Grimmauld Place, felt what he felt, some pain and hesitance. He saw Percy looking at him, at Tom, talking as though they were introducing to each other as friends in a park. He saw Percy's school, saw Rachel, felt irritation flare whenever she was around, because if any mortal could figure it out, it would be her. He saw white flashes of later memories, of Annabeth trying to talk to him but getting pushed away, the worry that creeped up with Grover, the horror of seeing Nico bleeding because of Gabe, the shock after Percy sliced Gabe's head off. He felt the emotions Percy could feel. He saw the tall tower of Azkaban, felt the cold whip through him. He felt the destructive energy of the dementors, but know his was far better. The dementors stayed away from him.

He saw Hogsmeade, saw how one spell created a mass feeling of chaos and fear that spread through the entire village. He saw Hogwarts, the Chamber of Secrets, Dumbledore's office, and the Come and Go room.

The new memory was that of the party. He watched everyone from far away, the music was slow, the colours blended with the night. Percy was almost happy, almost.

He saw his own face back in Frost. Tom had planned to get to Harry later, but of course he'd leave the castle and its safety. He saw how he was impaled by his own broom… that's how he'd died.

(Harry choked. When he'd woken up in the hospital, he had no idea how'd he'd died. This was the wrong way to find out. So much had happened, and nobody knew anything of it. He knew nothing.)

The next memory showed Acromantula eggs? Percy… no, Tom had stolen them, he had full control now. The eggs hatched in the train, while he went to Gringotts to get the fourth horcrux from Lestrange's vault.

He saw a bridge breaking, saw a giant scorpion monster. He felt the winds rushing by as he fell off the bridge and hit the water…

Percy was gone. Tom could no longer rely on him. But the horcruxes were not with him, he'd stashed them safely in the safe house.

The Fidelius charm was tricky to get by, but not so difficult because Tom had been inside the house when the spell had been originally cast. He wasn't a person, so the secret made a loophole for him. Harry saw Percy in the kitchen, fury coursing through his non-existent veins. He destroyed the house.

The kitchen floor was gone. Sally was screaming. He'd hit Sirius with a curse and the man didn't get back up.

He was going to take Percy away. Going to carve that bracelet off his arm. He wanted it.

He killed DJ.

The flashes of memories drained away and he couldn't see anyone. Harry screamed but he couldn't hear his own voice. Struggling to throw his arms up, he dropped the sword and dagger and pushed away from Tom, stumbling back on his bare feet. His knees knocked about and he fell on the floor, unable to remove the green flash of the killing curse out of his head. He couldn't stop seeing DJ's wide, blue eyes, unblinking, unseeing.

"No!" Harry gasped, trying to roll on his side, but it was wrong. Everything was wrong. He hadn't been there. He should have been there.

* * *

The dementors moved slowly. They were hesitating for a reason. Ginny wondered if it was because Percy was still carrying his Celestial Bronze dagger. It was the only thing that was visible in the dark space, aside from the red emergency lights that shone from the ceiling corners and the bare fading daylight that could be seen through the windows in every room.

"Ginny." Percy panted. Sweat trickled down his face even through the cold. "Hide behind the desk and see if you can find some kind of map to get out."

"You can't take them both out!" She rasped as he pushed her behind him. Ginny turned around and found the nurses' station right by the malfunctioning elevator that she and Lancoris had been stuck in.

But the door to the stairs beside the lift was open and unobstructed.

"Stairs!" Ginny hissed, pulling on Percy's t-shirt, to get him to follow her. They pushed open the door and bounded up the steps. They made so much noise that Percy pushed her towards the wall right beside the door to the fourth floor.

He held a finger over his lips and she held her breath. They stayed still for a moment. The dementors hadn't moved towards the stairwell. Why were they avoiding it? Ginny didn't pretend to understand how they functioned, but this was beyond the norm, for sure.

Percy leaned over the railing to peek at the empty stairs. She saw him exhale, but the tension didn't leave his body.

She rested her back against the wall as he whispered. "I can't face Tom like this… if he hurts Harry again –"

"Where's your sword?" She panted.

"It's not just Riptide." He muttered. "The water in the pipes' frozen. If I could just…"

Percy trailed off, staring at her. Ginny nodded, "Yeah, I can unfreeze it if that's what you're asking. What's the plan?"

* * *

Bolt transported Rachel and the Auror, Lancoris, to another part on the same floor. The tiger floundered, the moment their feet hit the ground.

"Bolt!" Rachel cried as the huge mass fell on the floor, her entire body shivering.

Lancoris swore. "Is that… is it a Familiar?! How –"

"She's not breathing!" Rachel snapped at her. "Bolt, come on, girl. What's wrong?!"

Bolt bared her teeth, sucking in air. "Too... cold…"

She kept shaking her head as though her pelt had been soaked in freezing water. Rachel kept running her fingers through the fur, trying to warm her up.

Lancoris pointed her wand at Bolt. A soft layer of warmth settled on the tiger and she shivered again. Rachel wrapped her hands around Bolt's neck trying to calm her.

"Can you get us out of this building?" The Auror asked, looking towards the turn in the hallway. It was only a matter of seconds before the dementors realised they hadn't left the vicinity.

Bolt shook her head. "Tried… blocked…"

Rachel looked up, tired and angry, "Can't you _magick_ us out? Apparation?"

She shook her head, "The wards prevent it."

"The how did those things get in?!"

"How did _you_ get in?!" Lancoris shot back.

Rachel faltered. She had been in her room, back in NYC. Looking through her old drawings had been a promise to swallow up enough time that she hadn't even noticed when her bracelet had started to glow. It was only when the burning began that Rachel realised that she was being yanked away from her reality, falling through a place where the winds slapped her hair away from her face, till she landed on two freezing monsters that had black torn robes and hellish faces under their hoods.

She was sketching them when she got back.

"And what was that you did to get away?" Lancoris asked, looking around.

"What… I did?"

"You made some light and you pushed it away." The Auror said. "What spell was that?"

Rachel blinked. "I didn't… I'm a Squib. I don't have magic."

Lancoris frowned. "Your hand is fine."

"Huh?"

"It'd grabbed your hand. Your skin should have frozen from direct contact. No one can get close to dementors without risking actually losing a limb. Especially without a Patronus. Your hands are fine, see?"

Rachel looked down. The skin on her lower arms still tingled from the iciness of the creatures, but there had been no damage done when it had grabbed her. She shuddered, recalling the slimy, disgusting grip of the bone-like fingers.

"I don't know. Is that weird?"

But Rachel did know. She knew exactly why she'd escaped frostbite from the dementor, and it was because of the bracelet.

"Incoming." Bolt wheezed. Rachel looked up at the same time Lancoris did.

The dementors had found them. They moved slowly like they had all the time in the world. Rachel tried to pull Bolt to her feet, tried to pull her back.

Lancoris's arm shivered as she pointed her wand against them, ready to cast another Patronus. But she looked unsure. Rachel could tell that the cold had taken over her as well. The fog that emerged from the dementors' robes approached the three of them.

There was a small ring of a bell behind them. Rachel turned around and saw the doors to the service elevator open.

Rachel had seen her only in photos, but she was very recognizable. Rachel stared at DJ's aunt, Rosalie, who stood in the elevator, watching with wide eyes. Beside her were three other women, one tiny and petitie, the second, a brunette at just Rachel's height, and third with soft and light brown hair, an inch shorter than Rosalie. They were all just as shockingly beautiful as the blonde.

Rosalie's eyes shifted from Rachel's to focus on the band of dementors on the other end of the hallway.

Low growls emerged from the throats of the women. Their eyes turned deep red, almost black, veins sticking out around their eye lids. Rachel watched as their canines grew long and pointed, their skin turning sickly pale.

With their fangs out, the women looked nearly as hellish as the dementors, but Rachel felt a hundred times safer. In a tick of a second, all four disappeared in a haze of speed trails, rushing around Rachel, Bolt, and the stunned Auror, charging at the dementors.

* * *

 _No, no, no, no._

The view of the corridor swam in but Harry's body felt disconnected from his head. He was still screaming. It felt like it. He couldn't hear anything. It was too silent.

Tom knelt in front of him, catching his jaw and tilting his face upwards. Harry tried to inhale, but his lungs weren't working. Everything had gone wrong.

"You don't deserve this power, Harry." Tom's voice was soft, soothing. Wrong. "Not when you won't use it the way it should be. You care about too many people. And every time you lose them, they'll go to a place where you can't follow."

His eyes were burning. Tom wiped the wetness off his cheek.

"It's alright. I'll find a way." Tom assured him. He picked up the sword. Riptide's dull gleam was tilted towards Harry. "Even if it takes an eternity, I'll find a way. The both of us have enough time for that."

Harry felt the edge of the sword resting on his neck. He didn't care.

The wall let out a groan. Tom paused, looking at the unmoving side with the slightest of frowns –

The bricks exploded from the wall as a thousand gallons of boiling water rushed out, slamming into Tom head on. Harry cringed against the heat as Tom flew over him to the end of the corridor, pushed by the water that wasn't settling on the floor. Instead, it surrounded Tom in a sphere, lifting him off the floor.

From the broken pipes in the wall, the steam twisted over the spray and two figures emerged from it, curling into a slide on the floor.

Percy and Ginny landed in a steady crouch, facing Tom who was trying to break out of the water.

Riptide flew from the ground beside Harry, into Percy's waiting hand. The sword seemed to hum, rejoicing at the reunion. Percy growled, leaping over him to dash at Tom, while Ginny skidded to a stop next to Harry.

"Are you bleeding?" Ginny lifted his head to look at him properly. "Are you hurt? Can you stand?"

She'd know. Harry wouldn't believe it until she confirmed.

"DJ!" He gasped. He caught her arm, squeezing it to show how crucial the name was.

He saw the light in her eyes dim. Something in her visibly broke.

No.

Ginny couldn't answer. She just stared at him, eyes open and vulnerable. Her entire body had gone stiff.

Harry saw the green light again, saw DJ's eyes. It wasn't even his own memory.

 _If he'd just been there –_

"Harry."

– _things wouldn't have gone so wrong._

"Get up." Ginny whispered, almost pleading.

.

Out of their reach, the water created layers separating Tom from Percy. The red and black vapour, so familiar and disturbing, raged against the liquid, trying to usurp its speed. Percy kept up the constant stream, knowing that Tom wouldn't need air to breathe, but would still suffer from being flooded from the broiling heat.

A curved beam of energy blasted out of the shaking sphere and charged at Percy. He swung back, leaping over a tray and kicking it up to hold as a shield. The beam hit the tray and broke it into pieces.

Several more 'arms' burst out and Percy withdrew the water to force a larger quantity over Tom, but the brief respite gave him enough hold to attack.

Tom created a shield that caused the flow to be redirected towards Percy. The water didn't hurt him, but the heat was irritating his skin. He focused on the shield, feeling a strong tug in his gut as the water flew overhead to attack the protection. But Tom had expected, expanding the shield till it forced the water to flow over Percy's head and crash against Ginny and Harry.

Percy groaned in pain, trying to summon the water away from them, but it had already pushed the two away. Ginny cried as the water went above her head and Harry struggled to bring her up, both of them paddling uselessly in the strong current.

Tom lowered the shield and sent a stunning curse towards Percy. The spell caught his midsection and Percy fell back, hitting the ground sorely.

He'd just closed his eyes for a second, just lost hold of all the water that was already draining down the stairs, when Tom came into view.

Percy brought Riptide up and Tom caught his arm, stopping the sword from passing through him. The fury in his face was what told Percy that Tom was more solid than before. The sword would definitely hurt him if it touched him now.

"Just because I promised to not kill you – " Tom snarled, kicking right at Percy's elbow. "Doesn't mean you can keep coming back for more!"

The blow twisted his entire arm and Percy shouted in distress, dropping Riptide again. A burst of white, hot pain ran all the way from his elbow to the top of his shoulder.

Tom grabbed his throat and lifted him up from the ground, high enough for Percy to be staring down at him as he stood to his full height.

Percy's feet didn't even touch the ground. He gasped, scratching his nails at Tom's hand, but it didn't faze him.

"You should know when to quit, Percy. Just because you can't stay dead, doesn't mean the rules are the same for everyone. Or have you already forgotten?"

All his weight was on his neck. Percy kicked at Tom's shins, trying to brace himself against the wall behind him. Tom lowered him so his toes could feel the floor through his shoes.

Percy gasped for breath as Tom stared him down, eyes crackling red again.

.

On the other side of the corridor, Harry reached Ginny, both of them finally emerging from the water.

"Ginny! Spit it out. Come on!" He cried.

Ginny was gasping, choking as she kept throwing up on the floor. She must have swallowed the steaming hot water when they'd nearly drowned. Her body was shaking badly, heating up even as Harry held her arm.

The water had scalded him, but a quick Impervius charm had lessened the effects. He hadn't been able to cast one over Ginny, and she too had failed to protect herself when the corridor half-flooded.

The heat shouldn't have harmed her, but Ginny never did well with water. She was crying, bent over on her knees, arms around her chest, trying to curl in on herself. Harry tried to rub her back and lift her into his arms at the same time but she choked out the words, "I…I'm s-sorry!"

"Ginny, you need help! You're burning up!"

"I can't…"

Harry snatched his hands away from her. The water on her skin and clothes were evaporating. The air around her moved as though she were radiating heat, which she was.

He froze, staring at her form. He'd never seen her do this.

Ginny lifted her head, tears bubbling down her cheeks. They turned to steam along with the rest of the water.

"I didn't know!" She gasped, eyes still closed. Her entire body was heaving as though the only thing she could do was breathe in and out. "I should've known! I was… speaking in Parseltongue! The horcruxes were… in the house!"

She paused every few seconds to swallow air but it didn't seem enough. Harry watched in horror as slow orange and yellow waves of light emerged, moving along with the water vapour that left her skin. Her hair was nearly completely dry, sparks erupting and dying between the strands.

The floor around her dried up so fast that Harry had only blinked to see the water turn to vapour. The tiles began to crack from the heat.

Harry shuffled back turning towards her. "Ginny. Listen to me. You need to calm down. You're losing control!"

She was breathing, but it didn't seem like she could hear him. Ginny raised her head, stretching her neck as though it was a tactic to cool down, but all it did was create a small flare around her, like a shield. Harry wrenched backwards. The heat around her was increasing. He could feel it stinging his eyes even from five feet away.

" _He's gone!_ " She gasped and shook.

"Ginny, can you hear me?!" Harry asked urgently. "Where's your portkey?!"

"And I didn't do anything!" She continued like he hadn't said a word. "I didn't know!"

Harry couldn't respond, because with every passing second, the flames around her body grew. Tendrils of pure energy warped around her aura, glowing bright yellow and dark orange. The fire began to form small shapes that resembled sharp animalistic expressions. The faces in the fire burnt out and new one were created instantaneously.

"Ginny." Harry whispered. But she was already gone, lost within her own mind, her magic taking over, seeking the threat that had terrified her so much.

.

Percy struggled in Tom's grasp. The horcrux didn't relent, smirking down at him.

"You're mistake was that you thought you could fool me." Tom whispered. Percy grabbed the front of Tom's coat with his left arm, wildly trying to think of a way to escape. He couldn't breathe properly.

"I did." He gasped. Tom's sudden confusion let Percy bring his hand up to cut down on Tom's wrist with his dagger.

Tom stumbled back, staring dumbly at his chopped limb. Percy yanked the dead hold of the severed hand away from his neck, falling to the ground and drawing in a gulp of hot air.

He'd seen the fire grow around Ginny. Percy knew she was losing control. And from everything he knew about Core magic, everything he'd learned from Tom, he grinned.

.

Harry scrambled to his feet, yelling out, " _Percy!"_

Percy knew they wouldn't be able to get out in time. They were all going to burn. Tom stepped back, red eyes turning back to a stunned blue, staring as Harry practically collided against Percy, taking them both to the ground.

The last thing Percy saw was the black, translucent dome shield Harry created around them, without uttering a single word.

* * *

Ginny's scream rocked the foundations of the hospital. It sounded like a banshee's wail, long and hoarse. The inferno around her body exploded out, rearing to the ceiling and surging down the corridor. It engulfed Tom's body within microseconds. The unearthly shriek that was a result didn't come from Tom, but rather the locket. The flames swallowed his entire form, destroying everything, eating up every little piece of the horcruxes' magic.

The fire didn't stop there. It climbed up the walls and scrambled into all the rooms. It hit the elevators and the stairwells, growing in size, eating the hospital halls.

* * *

Outside, Sally barely saw Rosalie and the rest of the Cullens making it out of the building with Auror Lancoris, a tiger, and Rachel Dare, of all people, when the hospital detonated. Fiendfyre climbed up the entire building and destroyed it to the core.

* * *

 **One chapter to go. Stay tuned, folks.**

 **Q: So… have you figured out what the bracelets do?**

 **Cabba.**


	58. One Sleeps, Another Awakens

**EDIT: THE NEXT INSTALLMENT IS OUT! TITLED: HEROES. CHECK IT OUT.**

 **The last chapter. I'm so tired! This week's been testy with me. Almost couldn't update, because I had to rewrite a chunk of this...**

 **A: The bracelets are an important bit of the next in series part of my stories. The fight against Gaia, basically. They give Percy, Harry, and Rachel specific powers for a specific reason. Catie Cat's close. These three are basically immortal. They can never stay dead (evil laugh).**

 **ShadeofDeath746: Welcome back. Glad to see you've enjoyed this.**

 **percyjacksonfan135: You're welcome for Tom's death. I have been waiting for years to write it.**

 **brade1991: Thanks. :)**

 **Lady among the trees: I was aiming for intense!**

 **Catie Cat: Azkaban's on a tiny island off the coast of the UK, somewhere in the north.**

 **Listening to –** _ **Snow (Hey oh)**_ **by Red Hot Chilli Peppers**

* * *

Percy heard the explosion, but it didn't really ring in his ears. All he could feel was the soft blanket that was the shield. He knew there was fire and fury, knew there was devastation all around him but he was safe in this bubble of protection.

He didn't think shield charms could stop Fiendfyre. Hadn't Harry once said nothing could save you from that?

The noise from the outside cut down. The fire stopped screaming, the blinding light died down. Percy waited another second or so. He could still feel the shield, still feel Harry's weight on his back, covering his body.

He opened his eyes and saw stars.

Magic glimmered in front of him. There were tiny dots of white, yellow, and even blue, sprinkled along the inside of the black mass of the shield. They glittered like stars, like he was staring far into space, like he was in the night sky, part of the constellation that was so close all he had to do was reach out and touch the diamonds –

The moment Percy's fingers grazed the night sky, the shield disappeared, vanishing as though he had popped a soap bubble in slow motion.

The wreckage of the hospital corridor greeted his eyes. Percy gaped at the charred walls, where small spurts of fire rose and died down in sporadic intervals. Everything was gone. The sides had been burned down, he could look into the rooms through large holes on either side. The floor was more or less blackened, except it hadn't been burned much. The fire must not have touched it, the heat certainly had.

"Harry?" Percy croaked, still feeling the weight on his back. It was getting uncomfortable, especially with the left over heat. Percy shifted a bit, trying to move him, but his heart nearly stopped when Harry didn't answer, instead slid off his back and fell to the side, motionless.

Percy stared. Why wasn't he moving? Why was he –

"Harry? Come on, wake up! You're not… you're okay." Percy shuffled towards him, touching his face and then his arms. Harry's eyes were closed, face slack, body so still it looked like he wasn't breathing.

Harry's eyes snapped open just as he gasped for a breath of air.

Percy nearly cried. "Oh gods! I thought... you scared me!"

He threw himself at him, squeezing him tight. Percy pressed his face into his neck and could _hear_ Harry's pulse, beating fast like he'd run miles.

Harry struggled. Hands come up to wrench Percy away from him, " _Gerroff!"_

He moved away in surprise, but when he saw the look of shock and pain on Harry's face, Percy winced.

"Sorry! Sorry! I… gods…" Percy sat up, gingerly, testing the floor beneath them. They were sitting on ashes, the crumbling bits of the floor.

Percy couldn't look away from Harry who had sat up, pressing his back to the burnt wall. He brought his knees up, arms close to his chest, twitching every few seconds as though he was afraid something was going to attack him. Percy saw that the clothes he was wearing, the hospital scrubs were torn, burnt at the seams. If Harry pulled at it, the t-shirt would tear away from his skin easily.

Had the fire hit him before the shield came up? Had Harry been a second late? But he was fine, he was sitting there, breathing, very alive.

Percy swallowed, turning to look at the rest of the corridor.

On the floor, just feet from them, lay Riptide.

The sword was buried under a mound of bleeding horcruxes. Percy recognized the charred bits of the locket. Even though its windows were practically crisp and horrendously broken, he could see the inline of the tiny emeralds, now destroyed. The shape of the letter 'S' was half hazard. Beside the locket, lay the cup, the diadem, and the ring. They were all broken and dust.

Riptide was the only piece of metal that had survived the fire. Percy leaned forwards to touch the handle, to wrap his fingers around the familiar weapon and pry it out of the damaged bits of jewellery.

The three foot long blade gleamed in the darkness. Its rust was gone. Percy twisted the sword to look at the edge and could barely even spot the insanely sharp side.

It was like the fire had been a whetstone for whatever had gone wrong with the sword weeks ago. Percy could feel the heat emanating from the blade, could feel the deadly energy pulsating around the sword.

He lowered the sword and looked at the end of the corridor, where Ginny was kneeling. She was in the same place she'd been before everything had happened. Her back was turned towards the boys, shoulders shaking. Percy could hear her muffled sobs, could practically feel the devastation in each gulp of air that she breathed in.

The pain settled back into his skin. Percy could feel it crawling there, like a sickness that would never leave.

* * *

 _(5 days later)  
Wednesday, Dec 12; 10:00 a.m.  
The Burrow, Devon, UK_

Garth was quiet. Harry sat beside DJ's owl in silence. They stared out of the window from near the top floor of the Weasley's home.

The owl hadn't so much as given a hoot since Friday. He had perched himself on the old stand in Ron's room, not eating anything other than the small treats they'd given him. Errol and Pig had tried to cheer him up but Garth hadn't responded at all. Not even to Hedwig. Nothing could get him to snap out of it.

Then again, no one expected him to just snap out of it.

Harry reached up, offering his fingers to the owl. Garth's eyes barely flicked down to look at them before going back to stare out of the window. Harry lowered his arm.

DJ had always let Garth nibble on the skin. It calmed both boy and owl. Harry guessed there would be no substitution for that.

He had stayed with the Weasleys for the past few days. He and Percy had bunked in with Ron. Hermione had been sent home over the weekend, but she'd be back today for the wake.

Sally was nervous. She stayed on the couch most of the time, speechless ever since one of the healers had admitted that putting Sirius in a coma was the best course of action for the time being. Something about the fallout of a curse.

She was also pregnant. That was... horrifying. Harry wanted to think about it, wanted to think about her holding a baby, wanted to imagine her smiling, but he couldn't visualize it. The 'what ifs' kept popping up.

Remus was quiet, too. But he didn't mention a thing about himself. He worked day in and out, floo both ways to set up things for the funeral. Rosalie helped him. Even though she was a vampire, with no ability to cry, they could see the boiling grief in her frozen eyes.

Ginny had basically shut herself in her room. Her parents brought her food, and sometimes, Harry would hear them talk to her. She would respond in short sentences. Harry knew it had taken everything in her to agree to come today.

Dumbledore would be here at any moment. Remus had sent letters to Luna and Colin. Percy had begged Annabeth to come. Rachel would be meeting them at the cemetery with her parents. So was Hermione.

Nico hadn't come back.

Harry wondered if the boy had left for good, left after experiencing DJ's end. Percy had contacted Bianca but nobody seemed to know where he was.

The ghoul in the attic banged on the pipes. Garth didn't even flinch at the sudden sound. Harry didn't move, preferring to stay in his spot, with his tie still hanging around the collar of his new suit. He had never bought plain black suit. He remembered Percy looking sick when he saw the outfit. It probably reminded him of Tom.

There was a knock on the door. Harry turned his head to eye Ron who poked his head in to say, "Someone's here for you."

Harry opened his mouth to speak. No sound came at first. He cleared his throat painfully and asked, "Dumbledore?"

"No. Some kid? Says you know her."

Harry was tempted to blow it off.  
He could feel the cool wind of winter blowing in softly. The temperature had risen overnight. Even though it was forecasted to snow, it seemed warm enough to go out only in the suit.

He clicked his tongue to let Garth know he was leaving. The owl made no move to acknowledge him.

Ron was already dressed. Harry followed him down the stairs. Neither of them spoke to each other.

There was a small group of people in the kitchen. Most of them were seated at the table. Sally and Mr. Weasley were having tea. He was saying something to fill the gap of silence. Some of the Order members were also there, along with Ron's older brothers. They were going over the plan to safe guard the entire village of Godric's Hollow to hold the funeral safely.

There was a new woman there, talking to Mrs. Weasley in the living room. Harry frowned as he tried to place her in his memories. He must have seen her before. But she wasn't an Order member or any Ministry Official, as far as he knew.

"Yes?" Harry said, guessing she was the one who had wanted to meet him. She was barely shorter than him, wearing a worn jumper. Her old winter cloak lay on the coat stand near the door. He knew it was hers because it was plain. None of the Weasleys had pattern-less clothes.

If she'd been able to pass all the security checks placed over the house, so she should safe. But he still felt anxious as he walked up to her to stand beside Mrs. Weasley.

"Hello, Mr. Potter!" The woman said, a little frazzled. "I'm aware that this is not a good time. But... I, I am Kang Janet."

She held out her hand, but he shook his head, placing his arms behind her. She widened her eyes and immediately withdrew. "Er..."

"Have we met?" Harry asked, already feeling paranoid.

"In passing, I believe. My neph – I mean, niece, she knows you."

Janet looked around. "Where is she?"

Percy wandered in from the kitchen, he was holding the hand of a young child.

Harry's eyes widened. That was him. Robert McCallister, whose dad Harry had murdered more than two years ago. He'd seen the boy in Mantis's clinic, running into him on accident. But how did Robert find him here? How did he know -

"Robert?" Harry whispered, trying to steel himself. Was he here to put Harry in prison? To accuse –

"Evey." The child said stubbornly. Harry stared, unable to say anything.

"She's a girl, Mr. Potter." Janet interjected. "She goes by... her name is Kang Eve. We call her Evey. She is the one who wanted to talk to you."

"... right."

Evey looked up at him expectantly. Harry couldn't tell if there was a difference between Robert McCallister, the six year old who'd witnessed her father's murder, and Kang Evey, the eight year old who stood in front of him, who held all the power in the room.

She stood on her tiptoes, yanking on his sleeve for him to bend. Harry held his breath and kneeled.

Somehow, she knew. Evey knew not to touch him. She leaned when he was close enough, cupped her hands around her mouth and whispered into his ear, "It's okay."

Harry blinked at her. She raised her eyebrows, smiling like she didn't want to be intimidating. That was easy. She seemed like a sweet kid (with a secret that could ruin him).

"What?"

"I won't tell."

His heart seemed to palpitate. She wouldn't tell about the murder? About him? About Harry poisoning Ford McCallister?

"Why?"

Evey's smile faltered. She whispered, "Appa was not nice."

That... Harry understood. Ford McCallister had been part of a band of thugs. Harry had made sure exactly who he was targeting when he went after them. Murderers and thieves with greed in their hearts. All ten of them had deserved their deaths.

The question had been had they deserved to die at Harry's hand.

After all those years, here was a girl consoling Harry about the murders _he_ had committed. Something he'd told no one, save for Rachel.

The look on Evey's face made Harry wonder about her mother. Janet's sister, obviously. What had been her fate? Was she even alive? Had Ford done something to her?

"Oh." He said, exhaling, feeling some of the weight leave his shoulders.

Evey nodded and looked up at her aunt.

"Done?" Janet asked, surprised. "Okay..."

She had clearly come here on her niece's request, having no idea what Evey knew about Harry.

Harry stood up. Percy and Mrs. Weasley looked at him curiously, but Harry said, "Did you apparate here?"

"Yes. I mean, an Auror apparated us here. We'd had to go through some ways to get here."

"Someone will see you back to your house. If you need anything..." Harry held up a finger as he suddenly looked over to the kitchen, and left the flummoxed group to rush in and accost Remus.

"Remus! The mirrors! Where are they?!"

Remus nearly jumped. He had just sat down for brunch, but looked stunned at Harry's interruption. "They... Arthur, the cupboard over there. Why d'you need them?"

"It's important." Harry grabbed one of the new two way mirrors Remus had managed to charm yesterday. Everyone in the kitchen stared. This was the most Harry had interacted with anyone.

He ran back into the living room and showed Janet the mirror. "This is a way you can contact me. You'll be able to see and talk to me."

He looked down at Evey who was grinning broadly at the mirror. She looked so ecstatic that Harry almost smiled. He gave her the mirror and she looked at her reflection with childlike wonder.

Janet was speechless. "That... I..."

"You can call me anytime you need to. It's not a problem." Harry assured her.

He spared another glance at Evey. She had a glint in her eye. It wasn't malicious, just smart.

"I gave him something." She spoke up. "I wrote it down in case you want to find your friend. But Percy wasn't there. So I gave it to DJ."

She knew things that she shouldn't. There was something about her that Harry couldn't really explain.

Percy looked at her in confusion. "What did you give DJ?"

"A piece of paper." Evey replied. She walked towards her aunt.

She didn't explain that, so Harry filed it away and nodded at her. "I think Evey knows how to use the mirror."

Evey jumped on the spot, excited. She spoke in rapid Korean to her startled aunt. Janet responded to her before saying, "Thank you! I mean, you don't have to do this."

"I want to." He said, firm. "It's been good talking to you."

With a deep breath, Harry held out his hand. Janet looked a little more at ease as she shook his hand.

At her touch, there was a sharp pinch like a few of his muscles were cramping. He could feel the swift coldness from outdoors and had to brace himself to not react to the pain.

Evey caught Janet's wrist, trying to pull away. Harry looked at her, grateful.

Stupid bracelet, stupid dying-and-coming-back-to-life process, stupid pain-absorbing-ability...

The Kangs left, but Mrs. Weasley still eyed Harry. Even Percy had gone quiet during the whole exchange. Harry shrugged. "What?"

"Who were they?"

Harry clenched his sensitive palm. "Someone who I owe."

And hour later, Rosalie came in with her family. As everyone got ready to leave, she walked to Harry and handed him a pair of thick, winter gloves.

Harry slipped them on, already focusing on settling his anxiety. He stretched his fingers, rotating his wrist and pasting the neat Velcro straps together. He needed to keep his wits about him if he had to get through DJ's funeral without a meltdown.

...

They were burying DJ next to his parents. The cemetery in the village of Godric's Hollow was a large expanse of land, filled with headstones.

It was scheduled to be a short process. Percy stood in the second row, Sally's arm around his. They were right behind Harry, who hadn't said a word since taking the portkey here.

Annabeth stood to Percy's right. She interlocked her fingers with his, her hand warm unlike his clammy palm. She had worn a hastily borrowed black dress top with black jeggings. Percy couldn't help but wonder what DJ would have said to her outfit. DJ might have given points for quick thinking (Percy had agreed to call her to the wake only last night).

Harry and Rachel were in the front row, between Rosalie and Remus. Dumbledore stood to Remus's left. The rest of the Cullen family stood on the other side of Sally, also filling the third row.

Percy wanted to look back to see where the rest of the crowd were. He knew Luna and Colin were here, probably with Ginny. He could imagine Dennis sticking close to Colin. The Weasleys were somewhere in the middle. Rachel's parents stood with Hermione's parents.

All around the crowd, stood Order members, like bodyguards. Percy knew it wasn't overkill, especially after everything that had happened last week.

It was a closed casket funeral. Harry had been adamant about that. No one said otherwise, so Percy was staring at the mahogany carved coffin that lay right by the hole dug into the ground. The coffin was surrounded by pale yellow flowers. Percy wondered if they were tulips.

He turned his head and looked over to the head stones just a few feet from them. Jacob and Meredith's white marble double graves were worn by time. He could see their names and dates.

Behind their headstones, was another double marble grave set with the names shining bright for everyone to see. Lily and James Potter were buried at the same time as DJ's parents.

Percy felt the grief hit him all at once. It was something he'd never really thought about. Yeah, Harry and DJ had lost their parents. DJ was raised in an orphanage till he'd received his Hogwarts letter. Harry had grown up in the Dursleys' household. Percy remembered when he used to say that he'd rather go to an orphanage than stay another day with them.

But Percy had never been able to see the two as alone. Harry and DJ had always been with friends, with people who had tried to help in some ways.

Percy thought of his mom, raising him alone. That had been unbearable, especially after her sister had died. It had been one of the reasons why she'd married so soon.

Being lonely seemed like a horrifying prospect. Percy had never felt lonely, except for twice in his life. When he thought his mom had been killed by the Minotaur, and when he'd seen no way to find Grover, when he'd been stuck with Tom for what felt like years.

Percy tightened his grips on both Sally and Annabeth's hands. They squeezed in return.

He wondered if Nico was alone.

There was someone standing beside the casket. A thin, short man donned in traditional robes. He was presiding over the funeral. Percy tuned out because the speech felt impersonal. Generic. No mention of DJ's wish to make seasonal adapting clothes, his new ability to fly, his odd love for cleaning rooms...

"And now, I believe there's someone who would like to say a few words." The man, priest (?), looked towards Harry.

Percy saw Harry's shoulders grow tense. He caught Rachel's arm, terrified. Percy almost glared at the priest. It was so obvious that Harry didn't want to go –

Harry turned around, searching for someone in the crowd. Percy followed his gaze and saw Luna step out of the crowd. She shot Ginny a small smile and walked past the front rows, towards the casket, taking the priest's place in the front.

Unlike many others, Luna had worn something like a sundress. It was black with blue polka dots. She wore a net blouse over her shoulders. It wasn't her usual fashion. Something far more tame, but still flamboyant for the situation. Percy had a mental image of DJ roaring with laughter if he ever saw her in it.

Luna looked up at everyone, eyes sweeping over the rows of people. Silence was abundant. It looked as though she were searching for someone. Then she looked up at the sky. Her long blond hair was braided in a fishtail. Tiny snitch shaped earrings dangled down to her neck. She looked very pretty.

Percy heard a few whispers from the back. Luna looked down at them and chuckled. "It's a warm day, isn't it? I thought I'd need a cloak, but it's quite nice out."

The whispering continued. Percy saw Sally breathe out, some of the tension bleeding away.

"It's probably going to snow." Luna observed. "It's a kind of day DJ loves. Cool, but bright. It's different from London. I've never been to muggle London, but that's where he grew up, before we met at Hogwarts. He said it was dull and grey. He still missed it when he came to Hogwarts, I think. DJ was so used to the city noises it was hard for him to stay at the castle, especially at night when it was very quiet.

"But he said Garth made it better. That's his owl. Harry had gotten him Garth. DJ said being alone was difficult for him. He'd been alone most of his life before school. So, he made it a point to talk to as many people as possible during his first months."

Luna grinned as though she were reminiscing the memories. Percy could almost see an eleven year old DJ hopping around the castle, trying to chat with everyone.

"It was probably a little difficult." Luna said slowly. "Being a Potter, I mean. Of course the danger was always there. That didn't stop him. You can ask any of the students, they'll tell you that DJ Potter has talked to everyone at least twice. Even if it was to borrow a quill, or to ask for notes. I can ascertain that we've been chased out of the library by seventh years for bugging them too many times."

The whispers turned to soft laughter. Sally sniffed. Percy felt himself smiling.

Luna looked at the casket. She frowned for a moment. "I'll miss him. Very much. He was one of my best friends. He was family. That's what I learned from him. It's okay to be alone, but when you start getting lonely, you need to wander out and find someone. And he did that. I thought that was very brave. I remember being perfectly content to be by myself. I thought to myself 'this isn't so bad'. Then I made friends and became happy. It's the best adventure I've had."

The simple quality of Luna's words made Percy melt. Annabeth leaned her head against his and he could truly feel her smile.

Luna was right, it was a warm day. The perfect kind of day DJ would have liked to see.

"That's all we need, isn't it?" Luna muttered. She blinked rapidly before saying, "Someone to live life with. Because you can be surrounded by a thousand people and still feel lost. You can climb to the highest place and still be down.

"DJ, you were able to do what many would fail to even realise. You were able make your family your friends and your friends your family. I wish you weren't gone, but you are. May be I should be glad that you're with your parents. You're going to make friends with your parents, find out exactly why you love them. But for now, I'll be a little angry and a little selfish... We miss you. And I can't wait to open my holiday present. I know you already ordered it all for everyone."

* * *

Percy walked around the graves, pretending to look at the names on the headstones. But he was really searching for Nico.

There was no way Nico would miss the funeral. He wouldn't do that.

And yet, it looked like he did. Percy scoured through the faces around him. Annabeth was with Luna, Colin, and Dennis. The youngest boy was gazing up at her like she was an angel. Sally was off to the side talking to Rachel's mom, Beatrice Dare. Her husband, Patrick Dare was with John and Jean Granger, all three occupied by Arthur Weasley. Hermione and Ron were with Harry, beside one of the side decorations of the coffin. Rachel was talking to Ginny and Bill Weasley.

Percy knew that it had taken a lot of permissions from the Ministry, along with some cajoling on her family's end to bring Ginny out of the house. Her new portkey lay around her neck and her brother, Bill, stood by her at all times, since he was the only one in the family who could actually handle direct contact with fire. His Core was somewhat similar, but nowhere near to her extent.

He thought of Luna's words. What if Nico was alone? He needed someone to at least know about him. Percy had to find him, before he fell into trouble.

But he hadn't been able to find Grover, how could he find Nico, someone who knew how to hide in the shadows and travel across continents?

Annabeth approached him. "Hey."

"Hey." Percy muttered. "Thanks for coming with. I wasn't sure I could do this."

She took his hand. "You're not alone."

Percy stepped forwards and pressed his forehead to hers. They closed their eyes and just stood there, basking in the warmth and company of each other.

"I... I'm going to have to go search for Nico." Percy whispered. "And Grover."

"Uhuh?"

"Yeah. Would you come with me?"

Annabeth's steel eyes flashed silver. "You're not getting away from me, Seaweed Brain. It's an obvious yes."

Percy smiled. He was smiling too much today. "I just wish I knew where to start."

Annabeth looked at the people around them. She lowered her voice. "We start with the forests. There's a chance that Nico might be looking for Grover too. If he hasn't gone down to the Underworld."

Percy stared. "I hope you're right."

She pecked his cheek. "Start positive. We know at least three forests that are 'asleep'. My bet is Grover is also stuck there."

"Because I had that dream." He nodded.

"Yeah." She sighed. "We just need to figure out how to locate him, and wake him up, because if this is godly magic, it's not going to be easy."

"Get me out of here." Harry said, appearing out of nowhere. Percy nearly jumped.

Harry's eyes were wet, jaw clenched so tight Percy could hear teeth grinding. He swallowed. "You'll be leaving in ten minutes, I thi –"

"I know when we're leaving!" Harry snapped. He looked at Annabeth and then to Percy, frown deepening, "What're you guys planning?"

"Nothing." They answered at once. Harry narrowed his eyes at Annabeth.

"Liar."

She glared for a moment before backing off. "We're going to leave to search for Grover and Nico."

Harry's eyes widened. "The paper. Evey said she wanted to give something to Percy when he wanted to find 'his friend' –"

"Grover." Percy gasped. "That girl knows? She... she gave it to DJ!"

"Wait, wait. What?" Annabeth demanded. Percy and Harry stared at each other.

"She knows things." Harry said, tripping over his words. "Evey is cryptic, but she knows. If she wanted to give it to you –"

"But didn't because of Tom –" Percy realised.

"She gave it to DJ – " Harry continued.

"And he never leaves things in his pockets –"

"Because at the end of the day, he removes everything and puts the important stuff –"

"In the top drawer of his nightstand!" Both boys finished at the same time.

"In the safe house." Annabeth added.

Harry and Percy's faces fell. There was no way they'd be allowed to go back there.

"The Order brought back everything salvageable, so it's closed off." Percy said.

"Where are those things?" She asked.

"In Dumbledore's house. They just passed the screening." Harry said. He turned back and found the Headmaster talking to Kingsley and Tonks.

"Would he let us in the house to search for a tiny piece of paper, or would we have to break in?" Annabeth murmured.

"Neither." Harry replied. "We have someone on the inside. Fawkes will help."

"Isn't he a baby now?"

"He can teleport. And can understand English, that's vital." Harry looked back at him. "Dumbledore knows Korean, so that'll help."

Percy and Annabeth called Fawkes. He knew both of them remembered how the phoenix had died. He wondered if death was the same for them, losing life and then regaining it.

The bird was small enough that Percy could hide him in his palms. He saw Annabeth trying not to coo at it. Fawkes understood how important the request was and agreed to search the house for a piece of paper with Korean words.

Tonks was walking towards the pair. She looked tired and cold.

"How's winter treating you?" She said, listlessly.

Annabeth shrugged, trying not to show her sudden excitement in finding Grover. Percy took her hand and followed the Auror as she led them to their assigned portkey.

Back at the Burrow, Mrs. Weasley gave everyone some hot soup. It was far colder in Devon and it was very obvious. Percy shuddered as he took his sips, watching people in their funeral attire, draped all over the kitchen and the living room. Nobody was really talking and the only thing that really happened in the next half hour was that Garth had finally flown down to settle himself in the warm kitchen. Molly slid a small platter of the soup for him to try.

Annabeth stroked his feathers and said, "Is he going to be okay?"

Remus looked up. "It'll take some time. He shouldn't be left alone. Luckily, we'll have enough company, especially in means of owls."

Harry looked up and caught Percy's eyes from across the table. Percy saw him tilted his head in the direction of the living room. It was subtle enough that Percy seemed to be the only one who saw it.

"Annabeth!" Percy called out. Everyone turned to look at him. Blushing, he continued, "I have... something for you."

"Oh."

Percy shot a look towards his mother who gave a half hearted shrug. The pair stood up and went into the living room.

Fawkes was waiting there. Percy exhaled in relief when he saw a tiny scrap of paper clutched in the bird's talons.

"Excellent!" Annabeth whispered, taking the paper from him and stretching it out. As Harry had predicted, it had Korean written on it.

"Dumbledore's leaving right about now." Percy said, urgently. "Harry's told Ron, so the three of us can start searching right now."

They had to sneak out of the house, which wasn't as difficult as expected. Harry had gotten his Invisibility Cloak back. While he was busy making excuses to 'hide away' for the day, Annabeth spoke to the Headmaster and had him translate the script on Evey's paper.

"Central Park!" Annabeth came back to tell Percy, her eyes gleaming in delight and disbelief.

"Are you... no way!"

"He read the damn note and it says Central Damn Park!"

Percy wanted to kiss her. Was Grover so close?! How had they missed him? He was so close to home the entire time?!

Percy grabbed her face and kissed her. Annabeth was almost laughing. Percy felt high strung, adrenaline already rushing into his limbs. He needed to start searching for Grover already. He had to get out!

"Enough with the snog fest!" Harry hissed from out the window. The pair broke apart and turned to see Harry's floating head. The rest of him was hidden beneath the cloak out of sight from everyone in the kitchen.

Percy and Annabeth took leave, signalling his mom that he'd be back as soon as possible, this time, planning to make good on that promise. They had a lead.

* * *

 _Wednesday, Dec 12; 8:30 a.m.  
Dynasty Apartments, Manhattan_

Rachel dropped into the cozy armchair, right in front of the hearth. Luna's words buzzed in her head. She thought of the last time she'd seen DJ.

He had known her secret. About Luke, Kronos, the Scythe charm. He had been the only one. She'd been relying on him to break it to Percy. She'd been hopeful that DJ would stand beside her no matter what.

She'd never envisioned him leaving.

Rachel thought back to all the visions she'd had about the burned hospital corridor. About finding Percy clutching Harry's body. Except it hadn't been Harry, it had never been him.

She was such a fool.

Rachel brought her knees up to her face, staring at the low flames in the fireplace, trying to will away the burn in her eyes. The feeling that was left behind by somebody's death was not unfamiliar. She'd felt in camp, during that battle o the Labyrinth. With heroes falling, she'd seen the Grim Reaper up close, smelt the death in the air.

Was it cruel to say DJ's was different? That she'd known him personally, had him in her life, that losing him was even more devastating than the ones who keeled over during the camp battle?

Despite the warmth of the apartment, her extremities felt cold.

"Rachel," Her father stepped close, leaning down to look at her. "Are you hungry?"

Feeling like her voice would break if she tried to use it, Rachel shook her head. Patrick placed a hand on her hair, running his fingers through her hair. She tried to find the familiar action comforting, but honestly, it would be better if she could be alone.

"We have a surprise for you." Her mother's voice came from the dining room. Rachel sighed. She wasn't in the mood for a surprise. Wasn't that obvious?

Patrick looked up at Beatrice with a frown. He turned back to Rachel. "What your mom means is... there's someone coming here. Someone you'd like to meet."

That piqued her interest. She looked up at her dad whole gave a gentle smile.

"On the helipad." Her mother piped. Rachel tried not to feel annoyed. Her parents had only met DJ once. They knew nothing about him, truly. Knew nothing about witches and wizards, either. It had been a miracle that the Order had allowed her to bring them. But Albus Dumbledore had agreed easily.

"Who?" Rachel croaked.

Patrick looked reminiscent in the light of the fire. "Sandy and Genie."

Aunt Sandy.

Rachel's eyes widened. She sat up, clutching his arm. "For real?!"

Patrick chuckled at her enthusiasm. "Yes. They're flying in. Go on."

Rachel couldn't remember if Sandy had told her she'd be coming to see them during the winter vacation. It sounded familiar, but Rachel had forgotten all about it. The reminder had made her bolt up from the chair and towards the elevator.

"Now?"

"Yes. They should be touching down within the minute. Or you'll at least see them in the sky. Remember to stay by the door."

"I will!" She cried, jabbing the elevator button till the doors opened. "Oh my gods!"

Her parents shot her curious looks at the phrase, but Rachel was too jittery from the news. She stepped inside and waved at them as the doors shut.

"They're finally here!" Rachel squealed.

Bolt peeked her head beneath Rachel's hair. "Were they trying to make it to the wake?"

"I don't know." She replied, feeling her heart fall. Was that why her aunts were coming to see her? Because she'd lost her cousin? That was crap.

"Hey, they're here. Be glad." Bolt said.

Rachel stepped out on to the top floor, taking the last flight of stairs to the roof. She pulled the door to the wide open space, standing right by the steps that led up to the marked helipad. Scanning the skies, she couldn't see much activity, just a few planes in the distance.

"Bolt..." Rachel whispered, leaning by the rails. The wind was crisp, but not as brisk as she'd expected. New York was glistening and almost silent from this height. She could see the stretch of Central Park from her point of view.

"Do you think Ginny likes me?"

Bolt was quiet for a bit before responding, "That's your worry?"

"Gods, no! I mean, it's just something... you saw me, she thought I was..." Rachel trailed off, thinking back to her conversation with Ginny.

She'd seen the girl look at the casket, standing alone. She had been wearing a black shirt and trouser set, almost like a worn suit. Even her hair had seemed dull and stiff. Her pale face was drawn and dry like she'd cried all her tears away during the hospital explosion. Rachel had meant to only stand beside her, give her silent comfort, but the words had spilled out without thought.

 _Can I call you?_

 _Huh?_

 _I mean... in a while... whenever you want to talk..._

 _I'm not in the mood, Rachel._

 _I'm sorry. I know it sounds bad. It's just to talk –_

 _Give me a month. I'll call you._

Rachel was crazy, asking Ginny to hang out with her. They were at a funeral. That's the last place to ask your crush out on a date.

She hadn't planned to ask her. She'd only gone to talk to Ginny, to help her cope, to be useful in some way. Ginny had known DJ better than Rachel. The latter acknowledged that and wanted to help.

But seeing Ginny stand there, looking at the headstone as the priest carved words on it, seeing DJ's name appear on marble... the tears in her eyes were back and had been unbearable to look at. Rachel had gone to her side to give her support, but then Ginny had turned and _hugged_ her.

That craving for warmth, felt like cuddling underneath a warm and soft comforter in your room, watching the soft rain outside your window. It was a scarring day, but that hug had been fulfilling. The crack in her heart almost numbed out.

Only a douche would ask someone out during a funeral. Rachel wasn't a douche. She wouldn't do that. Her offer to talk to Ginny had been sincere. But she had a feeling Ginny hadn't seen it that way. At least, not completely. At least, she gave her a timeline to look forward to.

"Urgh!" Rachel murmured. "I can't believe I almost did that. Distract me, Bolt."

"Um... talk about your aunts," Her familiar suggested.

Rachel exhaled, focusing on a safer line of thought. "Yeah... Sandy's not my mom's sister. But they've known each other for a long while. She helps monitor a part of mom's business in the Paris office."

"The clothing line."

"Yeah. They do other stuff too, like perfumes. I think I clothing line just got passed. That's the second one in the season. The first one was a big hit with the elites."

Rachel rolled her eyes, thinking about the very _in_ green raincoat that a lot of celebrities had been seen sporting.

Bolt shook her pelt, trying to remove the cold air from sinking into her skin. "You thinking about that same green jacket Harry's boyfriend has?"

Rachel gave a shocked laugh. The sound felt foreign and she tried to stifle it quickly. "I don't think that guy was his boyfriend. But no, it's his mom's."

Rachel finally spotted the helicopter in the distance. She spirits rose and she stood on her tiptoes to raise an arm and wave at them.

"Right. You know... Sandy sounds like... what's her full name? Assuming she has one."

"They're here! I can't believe it! Yeah, Genie's with her too!" Rachel hadn't seen them in so long. She could believe how the day was turning out. She'd expected to be in a stupor, with a stormy cloud hanging above her head for at least a week.

"Is Genie a pet name too?" Bolt asked. She had her thinking voice, like she was trying to solve a puzzle. Rachel didn't pay attention, feeling the sharp blast of wind from the helicopter's blades hit them gradually. Noise rose and Rachel squinted as the helicopter lowered onto the platform in an expert move. Genie was excellent at riding the coolest stuff.

"They have, like, grandma names!" Rachel yelled as the rotor turned off and the blades began to slow down. "Who goes around with names like Cassandra and Iphigenia, anyway?"

Bolt didn't answer, still frowning at the two ladies who'd stepped out of the machine. Rachel grinned, feeling the desperate sadness pushed back from the sight of her aunts.

She'd always known they were two beautiful women, perfect for each other. Having been married for nearly two decades now, they looked like they hadn't aged a day from when Rachel had first seen them. It was testament to whatever skin care regiment they took.

Rachel ran up the stairs and rushed into Aunt Sandy's arms. Sandy had worn the same green raincoat they had just been talking about. There were also some green streaks in her hair to match the coat. Rachel felt tears in her eyes again, burning tracks down her cold cheeks.

Genie leaned down to kiss her temple. "Rachel, sweetheart. We're so sorry we couldn't make it to the funeral."

Rachel gave a sniff, not willing to let go of Sandy. As always, the two women towered over her, their height a gift straight from the gods. "S'okay. It was really private..."

Genie smiled, not looking put out at all. Sandy leaned back to check Rachel's face. Her black eyes glittered with a green spark, "I tried to come by earlier, but just couldn't put things off. Oh dear, you're cold! How long have you been waiting out here?"

"Just a while." Rachel answered, turning to hug Genie. Genie's short curt vividly curled hair was pulled into a swirl on her head, held by pins. "How long are you staying?"

"A week. I promise, Rach. A whole week." Sandy swore, bring an arm around her shoulder. She spotted Bolt, sitting by the door into the building. "Oh, is this your puppy?"

Rachel picked up Bolt, who was stiff, still frowning at the women.

 _What's wrong?_ She asked the pup.

 _They smell weird._

 _It's eco friendly perfume. Water based. There's no animal testing so..._

Bolt didn't respond. Rachel just sighed and explained to her aunts about her new 'pet'.

* * *

 _Wednesday, Dec 12; 8:45 a.m.  
Central Park, Manhattan_

"He's definitely asleep," Harry said. Percy held his breath, watching as the wizard closed his eyes, trying to feel around the system of trees to search for one satyr.

Central Park wasn't so crowded since it wasn't even nine in the morning, during the weekday. The three teenagers stood on a small path of pebbles, still in mourning attire, quite out of place. They didn't draw any attention, though. Which was good.

Annabeth had borrowed Harry's jacket, feeling the cold a little more than the boys. She was looking up at a tall apartment building, whispered, "Is that Rachel's place?"

Percy followed her line of sight and found the familiar building. "Yes. It's not so far from here..."

"See that helicopter?"

They watched as the tiny silhouette of a helicopter descended onto the very top of the building which had a helipad jutting out from the terrace.

"I guess... why, d'you want one?"

"My dad's always wanted one."

"He has that military plane, thing."

"Still." Annabeth stared at it till it fell out of sight. "I'd like to have one."

Percy smiled at her. "You'd be great at it, Wise Girl. Won't even need lessons, a pro from the first flight."

Annabeth elbowed him in the gut. "Stop sucking up!"

"Nah. I'm going to make it too easy for you."

"Behind you," Harry said. His voice crept up so suddenly that Percy and Annabeth reacted, drawing out their weapons and keeping them poised in the air, scanning the forest for a monster to jump out.

"Guys," Harry muttered. "I mean, Grover's behind you. Near the cherry tree line."

The adrenaline rush nearly overextended his heart. Percy lowered Riptide and glared at Harry before marching towards the row of cherry trees. There were barely any leaves on it, and absolutely no cherries that he could see. It seemed close to a cold death.

"Percy!" Annabeth called, excited. "The roots!"

Percy stopped and checked the bumpy roots, jutting from the earth and making lumps over the surface. One giant root extended, almost flat, very unlike the rest.

The three of them ran towards it, kneeling around the flat root. Percy swore he could see a humanoid face in the markings of the bark.

"He's been asleep for too long." Percy said. "I can hear him at all."

"Time to wake up." Harry muttered. He placed both palms on the flat root, right below the face shaped structure. A green glow came about, reaching through his skin and into the bark. Like he was trying to heal the tree.

The bark began to crack. Percy leaned back, waiting for Harry to finish it. Harry grunted, shutting his eyes and putting more power into the tree.

Percy looked up. The branches began to bloom, dry and dead leaves falling and being replaced with fresh soft green ones. From within clumps, red bursts of cherries emerged, blooming out through the flowers, exposing a slice of spring in the start of winter.

The root broken open and Grover's horns emerged first, followed by his face and then chest, coughing loudly and shaking from the cold. Percy gasped. Annabeth grabbed Harry's jacket from her shoulders as Harry pulled Grover into a sitting position.

"Wha... coffee... huh?" The satyr coughed, feeling the thick clothing over his head. Percy pulled him into a hug, whispering thanks to the gods, thanks to Harry and everyone in general, just ecstatic to have Grover back and breathing.

* * *

 **Oh My Gods. I am never writing anything this long. Ever Again. This story is the longest Harry Potter Percy Jackson crossover fanfic on this site. Check it. It's true.**

 **But stay tuned for a one shot that's going to be coming up, hopefully by next week. Because the next instalment will be set more than half a year from now. Finally, a time jump.**

 **Have a good vacation, folks!**

 **Cabba.**


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